Jewel Quest
by Yuki2
Summary: Around fifty years into the future after Sakura and Li, this story about an amazing group of kids and their Quest to catch a group of Jewels and to save the world comes up...(based on real people in life). For all the chapters in here, I do not own Cardca
1. The Encounter

Well, what can I say....well, first of all, this story is based on real characters, my friends and classmates, but not all the evil guys are ppl I hate. I mean, my two best friends wanted to be evil people. I saved them a spot later in the series. Well, this will come up first, and I've already typed out the second episode.  
I just haven't gone through and finished anything. I'm sorry if I spell anything wrong, because I type too fast. And the ... part didn't come out too well on Notepad, so if you see a big square or something or the sort it just may be a ...  
This one and the two following it are called "Ariel's Distiny" and the whole thing is called Jewel Quest.  
I hope you'll enjoy it (bah, I've said enough).  
Oh, and I almost forgot: Cardcaptor Sakura does not belong to me but this story does.  
And why this is in Originals? Well, it's based on CCS a little all right, but mostly the plot is based on my imagination, and the powers and oracles on CCS, so I'll make it a joint between the two, somewhere in between from time to time.  
  
The Encounter  
I'm not sure how we all got into this mess. We were just four innocent kids, wandering around after school, and we somehow got caught up in this, this realm of prophecy and make-believe. (Although now, I'm glad of what really happened.) I'm not sure if what I remember if true, but this is what I know really happened.  
After school, Snowy, Doughboy, Liz, and I went to wander to neighborhood. It had been Liz's idea, I think.  
"Let's hang out." She had said on the phone. It had sounded like a really good idea. Snowy led us to a shop, which looked like a museum.  
"What a cool place!" I said. "What do they sell here?"  
"Pretty stuff." Snowy said. "I've been wanting to check out this place forever."  
So we went in. At a table, there was a large collection of weird artifacts. Liz picked out a cross, or so it looked like. It was a very long cross, at least the vertical line was and the horizontal line was very short. It seemed somehow unbalanced. The cross was strung on a red ribbon, forming a necklace. Anyways, Liz fell in love with it, and it wasn't very cheap, either. But later on I knew we had paid a little price for it.  
Snowy suggested we all get something, so she picked out a brooch that was shaped like a broomstick. It came with two golden hoop earrings.  
I picked out a necklace like thing too, only this one was like a frame of a heart sitting on top of a long metal stick, but inside the heart frame was a stone. I knew it wasn't real, but it was quite pretty.  
And last, there was Doughboy, who couldn't decide what to get after all. We waited fifteen minutes for him, then got really impatient and decided to get him a pendant. If course he complained outrageously about it, but we wouldn't reconsider.  
Since Doughboy was in a bad mood, we decided to go where he wanted to go in the first place-the haunted mansion. I was scared of the mansion, but I didn't let my fears show. Nor did I let my guard down once I entered the mansion. If Liz or Snowy did any of those things, I certainly didn't know it.  
Doughboy was so happy going to the "haunted house", as we called it, that he didn't object when we made him put on his pendant.  
"For good luck." Snowy said. We had put ours on earlier.  
We entered the house.  
The inside looked eerie. It looked as if no one had disturbed it for a century.  
"Wow." I said, looking around. Liz sneezed, and then complained about the lack of dust.  
"Who does this house belong to?" Snowy asked.  
"Martin Elwood." Doughboy answered instantly.  
"How do you know?" I asked.  
"It's written on the front door." Doughboy answered. "Duh."  
"I don't like this." Liz said.  
"Yeah, I know." I said. "Eerie."  
"No, I mean the dust." Liz sneezed again, only this time I thought it sounded a little forced. "I'll wait for you guys."  
"I'll keep you company!" I announced eagerly.  
"Fat chance." Doughboy shoved me into the room. "You are coming with us."  
So I had to follow them around the house. It was very freaky. The house looked empty, all the furniture removed. Now that I thought of it, Liz, who was waiting outside, had the toughest job. She had to wait outside without knowing what wad going on.  
Anyways, we approached the attic, which was about the only room that looked friendly. It was filled with trucks.  
"There doesn't seem to be as much dust up here." Snowy said.  
"That's because the window is open." Doughboy said.  
"I dunno." I said. "Why does this give me the feeling that someone has been here before us?" Doughboy chuckled and shook his head. Snowy opened one of the trunks.  
"Look!" She flipped through some material. "Clothes." And she went through more things. "And a book?" Snowy pulled out a red book.  
"Hey, Liz is down there waiting for us." Doughboy said. "I think we should join her."  
"Good idea!" I said.  
"Should I take this book with me?" Snowy said. "I really want to read it."  
"Go ahead." Doughboy said. "You can bring it back the next time we come."  
"N-Next time?" I asked.  
"Sure!" Doughboy opened the attic door and ran down the steps. I quickly followed, and five minutes later, Snowy joined us.  
"What happened to you?" I asked.  
"Well, I was checking out all of the other trunks." She said. "Listen to this: they are all locked!"  
"Hmm." Said Doughboy.  
"We were just telling Liz about the book." I told Snowy. "C'mon, let's read it."  
"Okay." Snowy bent down and sat on the sidewalk. Liz and Tubby sat down next to her, and I leaned over to see. She slowly opened the book.  
The book was fairly odd! For some reason, the first page took up the space of forty. Then the page blew out of the book.  
"What's going on?" Snowy asked.  
"I have a feeling something is wrong." I said.  
"No, a page would just rip and fly out for no reason." Doughboy said.  
"There's no wind or anything." Liz said, raising a wet finger.  
Then the page started to glow, until it seemed too bright to see. When we could finally see again, we saw three figures.  
There they were, life size figures, and for the first time, we were seeing our enemies. But of course, we didn't find out who or what they were until later. All we knew was that there was a girl with red hair and eyes, and a boy with such a dark hair color that it gleamed purple in the sunlight.  
"What is going on?" Snowy asked, in a worried tone.  
"I'm not sure anymore." Liz said.  
The girl was taller than the boy, so we thought she was his sister. And they had a beast looking this with them, the third figure, than looked a little like a dog and a little like a lion. But this "creature" was frowning.  
If they had not just appeared out of that first page, we would've thought they were just ordinary people. But I was scared, Snowy was worried, and Liz was confused. I'm not sure what Doughboy was, but I think he was confused. Finally, his mouth popped open and he asked, "Who are you?"  
"Funny you should ask." The girl said. "Give me the jewel."  
"Jewel?" Snowy asked.  
"Does she want money?" Lisy asked.  
"I doubt it." I said.  
"They sound like they were from another planet." Snowy whispered to me.  
"They sound like they suppose we should know what they're talking about." I whispered back.  
"Don't stall or play dumb with me!" The girl yelled, and then charged at Doughboy, who turned and ran. The girl's fist located a stop sign, and the sign disconnected from the metal bar. Doughboy gulped.  
"Wow." Liz said. "She's very strong." This came out somehow strained.  
"What does she want?" I asked, getting frustrated.  
Next she charged at me. I screamed, and ducked her blow. It came flying at Snowy, who was behind me.  
"Release!" Snowy yelled. I never figured out why she said that, though she told me later that it was instinct and the only word she could think of. Anyways, what happened because of it is important. Her brooch, which was pinned to her collar, turned into a broomstick.  
"What?" Snowy asked, looking at the broomstick.  
"Witches and broomsticks." I heard Doughboy whisper.  
"WHAT?" I asked.  
"Witches and broomsticks." He repeated. "I know this may sound crazy, but try to fly on your broomstick." Snowy nodded. If the situation wasn't devastation, I would have laughed, but it was. Snowy climbed on her broomstick and kicked off the ground. Amazingly, she stayed up in the air.  
"Yay!" She called. "I can fly!" The redheaded girl cursed under her breath. But we weren't very safe. The boy and the dog-like beast had surrounded us, along with the girl.  
"This would be bad." Liz said. "Hey! I know. Let me try something. Release!" And just like Snowy's brooch, Liz's necklace began to expand. It turned into a rapier, a double-edged sword. The ribbon only grew a little bit, and was on the handle.  
"How cool!" I said. Liz tried out her new sword. She barely missed the girl. "I didn't know you knew how to use swords."  
"But I don't." Liz said. She seemed confused. "Somehow, this sword knows how to move and I'm keeping it up. It's, like, magical.  
"Just like Snowy's broomstick." Doughboy said. "Release!" His pendant began to glow and move, and then a circle formed around him. "A shield?" He asked, and raised his hand. He slowly started to float up.  
"Wow." I said. "Re- " But I didn't get any farther. The girl came charging at me.  
"Ahh!" I screamed. Liz took her sword and jammed it in front of the girl's face.  
"Stop!" Liz commanded. The girl stopped and narrowed her eyes at Liz, who was standing next to her and back towards me, who was just a few feet in front of her.  
"Snowy…" I said. "Help me onto the broomstick, please." Snowy stooped down and moved over so I could sit down.  
"We need to get out of here." Snowy said. "But there isn't room for Liz!"  
"Don't worry." Liz said. "I'll keep running after you guys."  
"But- "  
"Just hurry and go." With those wise words, Doughboy, Snowy, and I were flying off towards the east. I looked back.  
"Hey!" I said. "Look! Liz is keeping up. And see how high she can jump!" Snowy turned to broomstick to see, and I almost fell out.  
"I can't see very well, because of this big pink bubble I'm in, but what's that on her feet?" Doughboy asked.  
"Looks like a pair of miniature wings." Snowy said. "Hey, can anyone else enter your bubble?" Just because of this, they decided to test it out. Snowy flew over to Doughboy, and I slipped off the broomstick (believe me, I was trying to hang on with all my might, but she turned the broomstick vertically) and hit Doughboy's bubble. The good thing was, I was able to enter it. The bad thing was, I went right through it, and next thing I knew, I was falling.  
"Help, help!" I screamed. "This is NOT funny! Someone help!"  
Doughboy was closest, and tried to help, but again I went through his bubble and this time, Snowy was underneath to catch me. I caught on to the broomstick, but fell off and hit the roof of building nearby. Luckily I only fell about three feet, but it still hurt.  
"Ow!" I cried. "That hurts!" I got up and Snowy helped me onto the broomstick again.  
"We won't be doing that anytime soon, believe me." She said.  
"Hm." Doughboy said. "Let's see. If Yuki holds one of Liz's hands and I hold the other, perhaps we'll be able to lift her off the ground. She's, uh, not really doing quite a good job down there." He peered at Liz.  
"That's a good idea." Snowy said. "And the best part is, I don't have to do any work!" So we went and picked up Liz, and everything went well, that is, until we figured out that Liz was too heavy. But it was already a little too late for that, I mean, for one, we were already a few hundred feet above ground. I wonder if anyone spotted us? But we were too desperate to care.  
So we escaped to the park, which was full of trees and had lots of privacy. I sighed. "Well, we sure were lucky."  
"I think that when we figure out how to get our magical powers to a full extent, we can beat them." Snowy said. "Ooh, this is SO great! I've always wanted magical powers."  
"I dunno." I said, looking at my necklace.  
"Hey, why don't you try yours, Yuki?" Liz asked.  
"All right." I said. "Release!" The formation from necklace to magical wand wasn't exactly smooth. Anyways, the heart frame came off and disappeared. I never knew where it went, but the other three said it went into me. Whether that was true or not, I had on a very funny costume after it disappeared.  
It was a little like a dress, only it was very short and ended in a rosebud.  
"How interesting." Snowy said. Doughboy rolled over laughing. I scowled. Meanwhile, the rest of the wand was forming. The read stone at the end formed into this shape with an edge and had short wings.  
"Oh, does everything have to have wings?" Doughboy asked, looking from Liz's feet to my broomstick.  
"How interesting." I said. "So, does anyone have an idea what the sealing wand, uh, does?"  
"Well, it has wings, so maybe you can fly." Snowy suggested. I tried flying. And it wasn't a pleasant experience. I jumped on the wand and then fell down. Doughboy started laughing. "Or maybe not." Snowy added. I was extremely annoyed.  
"I'm sure the book has directions on this." Liz said. "Remember that there were other pages? Well, those pages probably explain this."  
"Or those pages release more zombies, like that girl, whoever she is." Snowy said.  
"She said her name was Ariel." Liz answered.  
"Oh?" Doughboy sat up to listen.  
"Yes." Liz added. "She said, 'You can't escape from Ariel. I know you have the Jewel!'"  
"WHAT Jewel?" Doughboy asked with a hint of impatience.  
"The Jewel." A voice answered. All four of us whirled around  
"Ariel." Liz whispered.  
"The Jewel of the planets, the greatest one of all. Many years ago, it collided with your earth and disappeared." Ariel said. "Eriol, Colton, and I were locked into this book. You released us, and only people with magical powers can break the seal on the book. So I assume you also have captured the Jewel."  
"But that's just the point." Snowy said. "We haven't!"  
"Do not lie to me." Ariel said. "I know your ways. Empress Queen Jewel wants that jewel, and now!"  
"Isn't there ANY way to convince you?" Doughboy asked.  
"No." Ariel frowned. "All right, I get your point. Colton, Eriol, attack."  
"Wait." Doughboy held up his hand. "This battle wouldn't be exactly fair, if it's three against one, is it? Liz is the only one who can do anything."  
"Yeah." I agreed. "Why can't Snowy and I fight?" Doughboy cleared his throat slightly. "And Doughboy." I quickly added.  
"Your powers, little girl, lie in this book." She held up the book we had picked up in the attic. "Your powers are to control these cards. They will obey you, but not if I release them first!" Ariel started to open the book.  
"And what about the rest of us?" Doughboy demanded.  
"Well, I don't have a clue about you, but the girl (pointing to Snowy) has her powers with her." Snowy looked at her broomstick.  
"But all I can do is fly?" Doughboy was looking very strangely at Snowy. "WHAT?" Snowy asked.  
"Your earrings." Doughboy said. "The ones you bought are gone."  
"Right." Ariel said. "Power hoops."  
"Excuse me?" Snowy asked.  
"Here, let me show you." Ariel directed. "Go up into the air, with your broomstick. Now, when you're ready, pretend you're throwing a Frisbee and shout 'Power Hoops!'" Snowy followed her as they went through the routine. To her surprise, two red-hot disks that were shaped like those earrings, only bigger, came flying out at Ariel, who jumped. The disks both hit nearby trees, which left a huge gap.  
"When you gain enough power, you can slice trees." Ariel said. "So now we'll fight."  
"That's only two to three!" I shouted. "Give me back my cards!"  
"No." Ariel laughed wickedly. "You see, little one, you, with all these cards, are most powerful, so I'll keep those. I'd make it fair, but I really don't know what to do about your little friend." She pointed at Doughboy, and began to take out cards from the back of the book, and threw them into the air. They started to fly away. I couldn't believe it: that was my magical power she was playing with.  
"Not if I can help it!" Liz called and aimed her sword for Ariel's hand. Ariel gave a shriek and threw the book in the air. Cards were falling out now. Snowy caught it in midair (well, Snowy was in the air) and shut it. Ariel charged at Snowy, who gave me the book.  
"Get that book!" I heard a boy call, and saw that it was Eriol. The bog-beast, Colton, came after me, but Liz cut in his path.  
"Let's see, Ariel against Snowy, Liz against Colton, that means one of us will have to fight Eriol!" Doughboy squeaked. I had never seen him so scared before.  
"You'll have to distract him." I said. "I've got to figure out how I can use my remaining cards." Doughboy shivered and went up to stall Eriol. You see, neither Eriol, nor Ariel had any powers, except they were good experts at martial arts. Very good experts.  
I opened the book. The first page was missing, but the second had writing on it. I flipped through the book, until I got to a book. There was a pile of cards, quite large, around twice the size of Poker cards. They all had words on the bottom. I picked up one. It said, "Fight." It had a picture of a blue girl.  
"Interesting." I said, and threw the card into the air. I hit it with my wand, which I later learned was called "Sealing Wand." "Fight!" I called. The fight card appeared as a girl in front of me, for a second, and then disappeared. "Huh?" I asked.  
"Yuki, watch out!" Doughboy called. Eriol was coming my way. By instinct, I punched him. I hit him in the jaw. When this happened, I understood what had happened better than the other three.  
"The card's power came into me!" I called.  
"Eriol!" Ariel came forward and grabbed Eriol. "Colton, carry him." And so Ariel and Eriol both climbed onto Colton's back and flew off.  
Now I had a close glance at what Eriol and Colton looked like. Colton looked more like a panther, with butterfly wings, that is, rather large butterfly wings. He was dark colored. Eriol had bluish hair, and glasses (which I had knocked off when I punched him). His eyes were blue.  
"I think they've gone off." Doughboy said. "We can have a break now."  
  
Well, please review my story. Thank you. 


	2. Prophecy

I beg you, please review, and my next one will be up soon...see ya!  
And Cardcaptor Sakura doesn't belong to me, but this story does.  
  
Prophecy  
"So." Snowy said. "Could someone explain to me what is going on?"  
We had gathered at Liz's house after the battle, all tired and worn out. I was reading through the book, and so was Doughboy. We had been discussing the details of the book for half an hour.  
Liz, however, had been practicing her sword. Her parents and brother had gone out for the day. Snowy had wanted to practice flying, but we all agreed that it was too risky. So we made her stay inside, and she wasn't too happy about this.  
"Okay." I said, closing the book. "I think I finally got the idea."  
"Yes?" Snowy asked, a little sarcastically. Liz sat down next to her to listen.  
"Okay." I said again. "This book is called 'The Clow'. It contains 52 Clow Cards, I think. So anyways, a long, long time ago, a magician named Clow Reed invented the Clow Cards in China. He and another girl named Akima, who I believe is our Ariel."  
"What?" Snowy asked. "But how could she still be alive?" Doughboy held up his hand.  
"He also was assisted by a guardian beast. Now, many years after, in Japan, a girl named Sakura released all of the cards." Doughboy said. "The direct descendant of Clow Reed, Sayoren Li, who is better known in this as Li, came to Japan because he sensed the cards. The two became partners in this Card capturing business, but at first Li though Sakura unworthy of an opponent. Li had a cousin, Meilin, who also followed him to Japan, and Sakura had a friend named Madison who also knew this. So after they captured all 52 of the Clow Cards, they met Eriol, who was eleven, I think. Anyways, he went to Tomoeda Grade School, the same school as Sakura and Li did."  
"Did Madison and Meilin have magical powers too?" Liz asked.  
"No." I replied. "Madison knew about this because she caught Sakura flying in the middle of the night one day, and even though Meilin is related to Li, she has no magical powers, but is really good at martial arts."  
"You read all THAT in half an hour?" Snowy asked.  
"Well, not really." Doughboy said.  
"We read the details of the people and skipped the adventures with the cards." I said. "I thought maybe we'd get to that part later."  
"Anyways, Eriol was really nice to Sakura, and that's why Li stayed behind in Japan. He had a crush on Sakura, that is, after he got used to her." Doughboy said. "Meilin was always very jealous. But Eriol, Akima, and the beast they had, Spinel Sun, were causing trouble. After much work, I think they got rid of the three by the fourth dimension."  
"The fourth dimension?" Snowy asked. "Gee, I'm not very good at math."  
"It means time."  
"So you're saying they froze her in time?"  
"And the prophecy was that whoever opened the book would release her. It's written in the back of the book."  
"Oh."  
"So we've released her. Now what about the Jewel and Yuki's powers?"  
"Well, I don't know much about the Jewel, but Yuki plays Sakura's role in this."  
"I do?" I asked. Doughboy nodded.  
"She has to learn what to say and recite, and how to direct her cards. She also has to learn what powers each of the cards have."  
"Aha." Snowy said. "I get it!" Snowy bent over and picked up the cards.  
"So that's what Ariel meant when she said I had the greatest power." I said.  
"Yeah." Liz said. "Just look at all these cards. They all have different powers. If you could use all of these, combined and all, then, maybe, well the possibilities are endless."  
"Don't forget, Ariel released a lot of the cards too." Doughboy said.  
"Yeah, she disposed of my magical powers just like that." I said.  
"Hey, don't take it offensively." Liz said. "We'll get them back."  
"Cheer up!" Snowy said, flipping through the cards. "Man, if I had that much power, I'd, well-oh, look, the 'Fly Card'!"  
"There still are quite a large number of cards." Doughboy said. "Here, Yuki, you take the book and study it. We have to be ready for our next meeting."  
"I have 34 cards." I counted. "That means that Ariel released, uh, um…well...fifty-two minus thirty four is…eighteen."  
"Yes." Doughboy said. He signed. "I wonder what my magic is."  
"It probably has something to do with that pendant." Snowy said. "After all, I had a broom, my alternative, and then a weapon, my earrings. Your alternative is a, um, big pink bubble, so you must have another attack."  
"Doesn't it say anything in the book?" Liz asked.  
"No." I replied, flipping through the pages of the book once again. "The books mentions nothing about you three."  
"I find that strange." Doughboy said. "Three girls and a boy, just like in the story."  
"Only Li was more powerful that you are now." I said. "And Meilin and Madison didn't have any magical powers, remember?"  
"Still very close."  
We went home, puzzled, because Liz's parents had arrived. But before that, we found out how to make our magic back to a less noticeable size. You had to say, "Return to your power, confine!" At least, that's what Sakura said, so I tried it, and it worked. Of course, Doughboy was very glad to get out of his pink bubble.  
The next day we went to school. I didn't go to the same school as the other three, but I flew over as soon as school was out.  
School was boring, at least all of us though so. Compared to the previous day, all of us seemed to be waiting. So after school, the four of gathered on the grass to talk. At least, to hear me talk.  
"I read through some card captures last night." I told them. "I understand the cards a lot better."  
"That's good." Doughboy said. "Because they might pop up at any moment."  
"I'm still confused about the Jewel." Snowy said.  
"Well, it goes something like this: Queen Jewel was also in the fourth dimension but she had escaped a long time ago, so she helped Akima, Eriol, and Colton escape." I said.  
"Yes?" Liz asked.  
"Well, escape to the fifth dimension, time travel. They landed on a planet and she made them her slaves. So anyways, slaves they were, until suddenly the book was opened and they were released." I said.  
"But you see, the Queen can still communicate with them. So they have to find the Jewel, so Ariel can use it to destroy Queen Jewel who controlled her."  
"How do you know so much?" Doughboy asked.  
"It's in the last two pages in the book." I smiled. "I kind of skipped. Anyways, Li and Sakura got married in the end, so they combined their magical powers and visited the fourth dimension, and when they found out the three weren't there, they figured out what had happened."  
"I see." Doughboy shook his head sadly. "This adventure is a real puzzle."  
"So how old is the book?" Snowy asked.  
"It doesn't say." I said. "But we'll have to question Ariel the next time we see her."  
"Yeah." Liz said.  
"Also, the guardian beast, Kero, might be still alive." I added. "Somewhere. Usually, he'll sense that the Clow Cards are free and come to find us and perhaps he can help us."  
"So are you saying Ariel did a good thing?" Doughboy asked.  
"Well, in a way, yes." I answered. "And also-" But I was interrupted by the rustling of bushed.  
"Ariel?" Liz whispered. A figure popped out of the bushes.  
"No, who's Ariel?" A girl asked. I blinked. I didn't know her.  
The other three seemed to, however.  
"Her name's Becki." Snowy whispered to me. "She and Doughboy have this thing going."  
"I see." I whispered back. "Well, anyways, why don't we leave?"  
"Yeah, that's a good idea." Snowy said. "We can all hang at my house." She lowered her voice even further. "We have to think of an excuse to leave them."  
"Well, I've got homework." I said loudly. I signaled to Snowy I'd meet her at her house. "Bye!" And I walked a few feet. I heard Snowy invite Liz over to her house and walk off. Then I said, quietly, "Oh Key of Clow, Power of Magic, Power of Light, Surrender the Wand, the Force Ignite! Release!" And the wand came out. I threw the fly card in the air, and it was just like Snowy's broomstick. I met Snowy and Liz in the air.  
"I just HAD to check this out again." Snowy said. "It's so cool."  
"You're a natural." I said, trying to maintain my balance.  
"I'm getting air sick." Liz was riding on the back of Snowy's broom. "Couldn't we please walk instead?"  
"But this is awesome!" Snowy called, and landed on a roof of a nearby building.  
"But not for all people." Ariel's voice said. "And not for me, either." I looked and saw Ariel, Eriol and Colton. I gulped.  
"Shouldn't we get Doughboy?" I asked Snowy, weakly.  
"No." She answered boldly. "He's probably in the middle of a…" She fell silent. "Never mind."  
"I know." I answered. "So then we'll have to fight!"  
"I'll take on Eriol." Liz said. "I'm personally scared of Ariel."  
"I'll take care of Ariel then." Snowy volunteered.  
"Let's not be too hasty." I said. "We were also supposed to ask some questions, to settle this straight."  
"Ok."  
"Ariel, we've been figuring out things about you." I said, stepping forward.  
"Oh, you have, have you?" Ariel asked, mockingly, "Well, what? You don't have to remind me. Queen Jewel, my, I worked for a slave for her, so many years, and-"  
"How many years, exactly?" Liz asked.  
"Well, I can't remember exactly." Ariel paused, deep in thought.  
"Around fifty-seven years." Eriol said. "The Gem Tree, which bloomed every twenty-four years, bloomed twice, and I remember the other trees too."  
"Yes." Ariel said, suddenly laughing. "I'd like to see Mistress Clow and Little Wolf now. You don't age in the fifth dimension or the fourth. They sealed me up, but I kept escaping, and then they finally decided to get rid of me. Too bad the Mistress had to do it. Or else I would've been free, free like I should've been a long time ago!"  
"What is she talking about?" Snowy asked.  
"Well, Sakura later became the Mistress of the Clow, and Li's first name, Sayoren, pronounce Shao Lan, means Little Wolf in Chinese." I said. "And Akima is the Love Card, created by Clow Reed."  
"So is she human or not?" Liz asked, with a confused look etched on her face.  
"She was human, until Clow Reed went to kill her because she was seeking revenge on him because he married another girl. But he couldn't kill her, so he sealed her in as one of his cards and name it the 'Love Card.' And later, Akima kidnapped Li and tried to make them exchange places, whereas she would be a free girl, and live a normal life, while Li would be trapped as a card, forever. But with that battle, Sakura sealed Akima back into the Love Card. It took a great deal of effort. But Akima kept escaping, until Sakura killed him with her Sword Card. If Li had killed her, he would've become the card." I was quite breathless. Ariel was clapping. "And now Ariel aka Akima, has been with Queen Jewel for so long she things that she's from Queen Jewel's world. Jewel has been making Akima believe what she says, and even changed her name! That's why she says 'us' and 'you humans'."  
"So I see." Liz said softly. "What a life that would have been."  
"What a long life." I commented. "According to my research, Clow Reed is Li's great-great-great-grandfather, so Akima must be that old."  
"Are you calling me old, little girl?" Ariel demanded. "And call me Ariel. Akima (shivers) brings back bad memories."  
"Yes." I said. "And so her life has lasted, well, quite a long time, around two centuries, maybe, I'd say."  
"Wow, suppose you had to live two centuries." Liz said. "Endless life and youth."  
"But to go on living after everyone else you know is already dead?" Snowy asked. "I wouldn't like it."  
"And to be one's slave." Ariel answered. Then she brightened up. "After I get the Jewel, and before I destroy her, I will take you three to meet her, and to see what I suffered."  
"There's supposed to be four of them." Eriol said. "Where is the boy?"  
"Um, you mean Doughboy?" Snowy asked.  
"Yes, I think that's his name." Eriol smiled. "Isn't it?"  
"And Eriol is one of the recreations of Clow Reed, or something like that." I added.  
"Good job." Eriol smirked. "Clow Reed made several copies of himself, and I'm just one of them."  
"He must be the evil side." Liz whispered.  
"Uh, yeah." I mumbled. "Although it doesn't say that exactly in the book."  
"Well, I'm tired of them blabbering." Ariel said. "Let's just capture them and lock them away somewhere."  
"Capture?" Snowy asked.  
"They want the Jewel, remember." Liz said. "So they don't want to get rid of us."  
"That's looking on the bright side, right?" Snowy asked.  
"Uh…yeah."  
"Whatever the case, it looks like we'll have to fight." I said. "But Doughboy isn't here…shouldn't someone go get him?"  
"Forget it." Snowy hissed. "You'll probably catch Rebecca and Doughboy in a scene."  
"Yeah." Liz agreed, giggling. "Definitely."  
"And besides, it's three to three." Ariel said. "No one is leaving to go anywhere. We battle. Besides, what can that puny Doughboy friend of your do?"  
"She called him puny." Liz giggled. Ariel, who didn't hear the first part, thought that Liz was giggling at her, so charged at Liz.  
  
The next one is almost complete and I will have it on soon... 


	3. The Final Battle

I don't think this one is as good as the other two, but that's only my opinion and I'd really like to hear yours.  
Anyways, I put up some rules so people don't get confused while reading my stories. By the way, this is the third episode, and I'm going to start working ont he fourth now. It's going to be on pretty soon.  
Cardcaptor Sakura does not belong to me but this story does  
  
The Final Battle  
"Ahh!" Snowy called. "Watch out!" Snowy leaped at Liz, broomstick in one hand, and knocked her down. Another moment later, Ariel's body, followed by her fist, seemed to fly over the two.  
"Help!" Liz called.  
"Illusion Card!" I said, grabbing the first card that was in my pocket. "Let Ariel see what she fears the most! Illusion! Release and Dispel!" The Illusion Card formed a shape that I couldn't quite make out. Ariel stood paralyzed. Liz and Snowy stood up.  
"That was a close one." Liz said. "Thank you, Yuki."  
"It was nothing." I said, blushing over my first victory. Then Eriol charged at the illusion with what looked like a sword, only it wasn't as long as Liz's, in fact, barely half. The illusion disappeared and returned to its card form. It flew to me, and I safely put it away. Ariel shook her head.  
"Hermlys." She said, sadly.  
"What?" Liz asked.  
"Oh." Ariel looked at Liz, and then charged again. But this time Liz was ready, and so was Snowy. Snowy flew up in the air, and then (with no hands on the broomstick, which I could never do) aimed her "golden ring" attack, with those huge earrings. Ariel jumped back several feet, dodging those blows. They made deep gashes in the roof floor. Eriol noticed that and threw what looked like a back ring over to the door entering the roof. I looked around and noticed we were the tallest building for miles.  
"Jump!" Liz got her foot wings, and then charged at Eriol. They both launched into a vicious sword fight.  
"Oh, that's real nice." I said, looking from Liz to Snowy and Ariel to Eriol, and then back to Colton. "Leave me to the beast." Colton growled.  
"I may be a beast," he said in a very low voice, "but I am more than delighted to be fighting against you, the most powerful."  
"Yeah?" I said, somehow shocked that he could talk. "I don't feel very powerful at the moment." I looked at him again. He was licking his teeth, like how cats sometimes do. "In fact, very much the opposite." I mumbled.  
"Hmm." Colton laughed and spread out his butterfly wings, which, I'd have to say, were quite beautiful. He took to the sky, and then started to come back. I realized what he was doing.  
"Fly!" I hit the fly card and went up in the air. I realized I did have a disadvantage against Colton-the fact that he could fly and attack at the same time and that I could not. I took a deep breath and tried to remember which card would be best. "There is just no way I can beat that beast." I said. Colton had almost hit the roof before heading up after me. He had knocked down all four of the fighters on land except Snowy, who was flying.  
"Flying missiles." Where Colton's front legs where, he had armor, and suddenly, the front opened and a series of missiles flew out at me, our of both front legs.  
"AHH!" I screamed, and (considering the fact that I was utterly helpless flying) dodged the blow. The force from the blows hit nearby trees, and left holes running straight through them. I gasped. And then, determined, I grabbed the Windy Card and headed towards the nearest building. Colton followed.  
"Windy!" I called. "Place yourself underneath me to help me fly! Windy! Release and Dispel, now!" The Windy Card shot out, knocking Colton twenty feet out of the air, and then came back and formed a type of disk underneath me. That way, I could fly and attack.  
"An element card." Colton murmured, and then launched another series of missiles. I barely made it that time.  
"Doesn't this guy EVER run out of ammo?" I asked desperately. And then a light bulb lit up. "That's it!" I flipped around my cards, trying to find the one I wanted. "I'm running out of time, oh. Wait!" I found something. "Time Card! Freeze Time!" It never occurred to me, especially not at that moment, the endless possibilities the Time Card might be able to provide. All I wanted at that moment was to have enough time to pick out one of my cards. So after I picked out the one I wanted, and checked to see that Liz and Snowy were doing all right, I returned time to its normal pace.  
"Thunder!" I called. "Destroy that beast!" I pointed at Colton. "The Thunder Card charged at Colton, and after Colton realized that it was too quick to fight, he retreated. He flew over to Eriol and Ariel.  
"Let's go!" He called. "I'm out on ammo and we have to leave, now!" Eriol hopped on his back.  
"Ariel!" Eriol called. "Come on, let's go!"  
"Don't worry about me!" Ariel called. "I'll be right behind you. Meet in Winterlane!"  
"All right!" Eriol called. "See ya!" I saw them ride off, and then Ariel still fighting with Snowy. Snowy looked quite worn out, but now both of them had advanced on Ariel. She was surrounded and couldn't get away.  
"Eriol!" She started to call, but Eriol and Colton were already too far away, only a peck in the sky. My Thunder Card hit Liz's sword, bounced off, and then hit Ariel in the chest. All seemed to stop, for a moment, and then the sky turned dark. But only for a moment. When the darkness left and the light came back, Ariel was gone. She had gone with the darkness.  
***  
"Well, why didn't you guys call me?" Doughboy asked. We were at his house. After the battle, we had left, only to find Rene staring at us on the ground floor. She said she knew what happened, because she had watched Colton and I, and wanted to know what had happened.  
I knew Rene because she was a good friend of Doughboy's, so we promised to explain and as we did, we went and found Doughboy, who was still with Becki. Very sorry to invade their privacy, but this was an emergency!  
So in a very brief draft, we explained to Doughboy what had happened. We were at Doughboy's house.  
"Well, we thought we were doing a good thing, letting you and Becki enjoy your MOMENT." Snowy said, a little offended.  
"Hmph." Doughboy said. "There are other important matters, like saving the WORLD, for instance." His voice got louder. Snowy scowled.  
"That's not the big deal." I cut it. "The problem is, Ariel is gone and no one knows where she still may be." Doughboy plopped down on the couch and yawned.  
"What's the matter, getting bored with our story?" Snowy asked, sarcastically. She looked around, then whispered, "Hey, you know, I think Ariel may have wings."  
"Wings?" I asked.  
"Yeah, like Colton's wings. They're rally huge, black and reddish, like a butterfly. I saw a faint trace of them forming, and she was able to fly for several seconds at one time."  
"So she's been losing her powers on earth." Liz said, setting down a tray of cookies. "Interesting." Liz mumbled, with cookies in her mouth.  
"I find all this very odd." Doughboy put his hand on his chin. "I don't get it. What IS it with this jewel?"  
"I bet Eriol knows." I said. "But he'll be really mad at us for Ariel now. Do you know where we can find him?"  
"For some reason he always ends up finding us." Snowy said, helping herself to more cookies. "He's probably find us for revenge or something."  
"He's probably found out what we've done now." Liz said, polishing off the last cookie. Doughboy stared at it eagerly. "Don't worry, there are more cookies in the kitchen." Liz said.  
"I'm on a diet." Doughboy said. "I don't know why my mom even bothered to make them.  
"Anyways." Snowy cleared her throat. "Yuki, what happened to you?" In brief words, I explained a summary of my fight with Colton.  
"It's amazing things turned out the way they did." Doughboy said. He shivered. "I'm kind of glad I wasn't there, but still." He trailed off. "Things weren't much better with me?"  
"What?" Snowy turned pale. "You mean that…but she's so nice!"  
"Bah humbug." Doughboy said and left the room. He came back with a glass of milk. We watched him drink it in silence.  
"What?" Doughboy asked, staring at us.  
"Nothing." Liz said, and then quickly added her description of her battle, with Eriol.  
"Wow." Snowy said, and then added her story. I looked around.  
"Um, does anyone notice that it's a little chilly in here?" I asked.  
"I can turn the air down." Doughboy volunteered, getting up.  
"That's all right." I said. "It's not that, it's the chill of evil."  
"Evil?" Liz looked at me. "I don't feel anything."  
"Liz is right." Snowy said.  
"Wait, I think I do." Doughboy said. I sighed. No one was going to believe Doughboy now. "Concentrate now, Snowy."  
We watched Snowy try to sense something for four minutes. Then she said, "You're right, the chill of evil and danger is in the air."  
"Let's get out of here." I got up also.  
"Why?" Doughboy demanded angrily. "I happen to like my house."  
"Exactly, and if someone comes by, namely Eriol, then you would want it to be still standing, right?" I looked at him. "Let's go." The four of us got up and ran towards the door. When we got outside, we saw nothing.  
"And yet the chill is stronger here." Snowy said.  
"Let's follow it." Doughboy said.  
"You must be crazy!" Liz said. "That may lead us right to Eriol."  
"I doubt it, and besides, we have the upper hand now." I said. "Doughboy's right, whatever it is, it defiantly isn't Eriol."  
"Why not?"  
"I mean, if he has these shocking waves we sense now, we would've sensed them earlier."  
"Are you saying it's more powerful then Eriol?"  
"No, nothing of that sort."  
"Then what?"  
"Listen, I just want to find it, it's making me feel real bad and my stomach is starting to hurt."  
"Mine too." Snowy said. "Let's go. Release!" Snowy and Liz both hopped on her broomstick. They started to fly. Doughboy followed with his big pink bubble and I brought up the rear with my Fly Card. Rene waved to us from the ground. "Good luck!"  
"It's getting worse." I announced after a while. I winced as a felt a stabbing sort of pain in my stomach.  
"Me too." Snowy said, struggling to keep the broomstick straight "How are you doing, Liz?"  
"I don't feel all that well either, but it may be my airsickness." Liz said. Doughboy stared at her.  
"Wow, for someone like you, you sure get sick and allergic a lot." He said, laughing. Liz frowned.  
"What do you suppose it could be?" Snowy asked. I thought for a moment.  
"Ariel?" I suggested. Doughboy shook his head.  
"It thought you said that she was destroyed." He looked at me, and then at Snowy and Liz.  
"I dunno." Snowy said. "I mean, if she just disappeared like that, how do we know she's not alive?"  
"She could've transported herself." Liz added.  
"Maybe." I said, doubtfully. "Thought I don't think it works that way. We'll see; it's coming from that direction." I pointed towards the woods.  
"Ooh, spooky." Snowy exclaimed. "C'mon, let's get higher." She pointed her broomstick at an angled and they zoomed up.  
"She has absolutely NO sense of altitude." Doughboy murmured. I looked at him, a look of confusion etched on my face. "Wouldn't it be cool if Liz threw up? Think where it could land."  
"That's gross." I said, giving a shudder and flew after Snowy and Liz. Doughboy followed.  
"How are we supposed to find this thing?" Snowy asked.  
"Point me." Doughboy said. We all looked at him.  
"Say what?" Snowy asked, then gasped. Doughboy's pendant was rising, and then after rotating two full circles, it pointed due east.  
"So you're trying to tell me it's over there?" I asked. Doughboy nodded. He looked into the darkness, and then turned around.  
"We must leave the light and turn to the darkness." He said.  
"Oh please don't be so dramatic." Liz whimpered. "I don't feel so well, and this time I don't think it is the altitude." After moving along, it was so darn no one could see anything.  
"Okay." Doughboy said, taking a deep breath. "We must be brave."  
"What's wrong?" I asked.  
"It never gets as dark a this." Doughboy gave a shudder. "Girls, there is a black thing blocking whatever we have to get at."  
"Are you sure there's something behind the black thing?" Liz asked. Then she gasped. The black thing had moved, revealing some stars. Snowy gave a shriek, and I jumped behind Doughboy.  
"It's some kind of…monster." Snowy said. I shivered.  
"Yuki, it's up to you." Doughboy said.  
"But why me?" I asked.  
"The rest of us don't have the strength nor the powers." Doughboy said. "My pendant follows through the black thingy." I gulped.  
"Okay." I said. "I can do this." I flipped through my cards, found one, and threw it into the air. "Light Card, reveal what is before us! Light, release and dispel! Release!" The Light Card slipped out of my hand and turned into a lady. In the next second, she was beside the dark thing, and reviewed a lady all dressed in black.  
"What is that thing?" Doughboy asked, his mouth wide open.  
"Uh, that may just be the Dark Card." I said. "I've seen a picture of it somewhere."  
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Snowy asked as she watched the two cards look and investigate each other. "Go capture them."  
"I don't even want to touch that black one." I mumbled and ran forward. "Return to your power confined!" And the next second, I had two cards.  
"What a capture." Liz said, clapping.  
"What IS that?" Snowy was looking beyond the place the black thing had been.  
"It's…a door." Doughboy said. He walked forward, then stopped and looked at me.  
"What?" I shrieked.  
"Look at your feet." Doughboy said. I looked and saw a glowing circular object with a really unique pattern engraved on it. "I was wondering how you managed to stand and capture cards at the same time."  
"Very cool." Liz said. Doughboy smiled and headed for the door. He groaned. "The pain is so worse."  
"I know." Snowy said weakly.  
"It's like sucking away your energy." Doughboy said.  
"That's strange." I said. "It's been diminishing for me."  
"Me too." Liz added.  
"Well aren't you special." Doughboy groaned. He reached for the door, and walked through it. He disappeared. The door was still open, but all we could see was the trees from behind the door.  
"It's a door that makes you disappear into thin air." Snowy said. "I could use one of those for my math tests."  
"Hmm." Liz said, and walked up to the door. "Ahh!" Another moment she was sucked through it.  
"Oh my." Snowy said and exchanged a look with me.  
"Let's go." I said, and we both ran towards the door. I felt like a magnet as I was sucked through the door and I saw the door disappear.  
"Oh no." Snowy said. "Are we…do you think we could be trapped?"  
"Where there's an entrance, there must be an exit." Doughboy said, making both of us jump. "It's like the rule 'what goes up must come down.'"  
"But that relates with gravity." Liz said. "How do you know it works this way too?" Doughboy shrugged.  
"Link." He said. We stared again, and then, out of the bottom tip of the pendant, a green mist came floating out. After a few seconds, it formed a boy all dressed in green. "Do you all have to look at me that way every time I use my magical powers?" Doughboy asked. Snowy raised her hands in defense and backed off.  
"We just didn't know you HAD magical powers." She said.  
"You know, I sort of feel we're standing on something solid, but I don't feel it." I said. "This is really scaring me. So, Doughboy, who IS think Link person and how can he just come out of the pendant like that. There MUST be some reason…is he like a Clow Card?"  
"Nothing like it." Doughboy smiled. "He's like a guide, like Point Me."  
"Huh?" Snowy asked. I blinked.  
"Well, Doughboy's always been really confusing, so I'm not surprised." Liz said. "The only one who COULD understand him was Becki." Doughboy rolled his eyes and gritted his teeth.  
"Well, magical powers or not, this is really freaky." I said. "Why didn't you tell us about this before?"  
"I kept getting interrupted." Doughboy said. "Listen, we could stand here all day. We should keep moving. Let's follow Link."  
"What does Link know?" Snowy said. "He's just a form of Doughboy in a way."  
"He looks a lot nicer and cleaner than Doughboy." Liz said, and all three of us girls giggled. Doughboy frowned.  
"What are you talking about?" He inquired.  
"Oh, I was just saying how the pain is gone." Snowy said. Doughboy frowned.  
"How does that lead to giggling?" Doughboy asked. Snowy shrugged.  
"I don't know."  
"Look!" Liz pointed at Link. "Link is pointing at something in the distance."  
"Something is approaching." Snowy said.  
"Yeah." I said. Doughboy returned Link to the pendant. Liz looked slightly sad.  
"He was a better person than Doughboy." Liz said.  
"Hush." Snowy said, listening. "I think I hear footsteps."  
"Should I use the Light Card?" I asked.  
"This is really freaking me out." Liz said. "Doughboy, do something."  
"Why me?" Doughboy asked. "I'm no angel." Snowy bit her lip. Suddenly, a figure came to light.  
It was Ariel.  
With her official red costume and black wings, she looked terrifying. But her face looked worn and tired.  
"Let me go." She pleaded. "I'll do anything. Just get me out of this prison."  
"Hah, fat chance." Doughboy said. "We don't even know what to do ourselves."  
"Ariel, if you could just explain the whole story to us…" I began, "it would be so much easier to help both of us."  
"I don't know." Ariel whined. "It's just been so long. I don't know what Eriol would say. By the way, how is Eriol? I hope he's eating…he can't cook very well."  
"We don't know where Eriol lives, remember?" I asked. "But if you tell us, I promise to go check."  
Ariel shook her head, and then lowered it. She was silent for a minute, and then raised her head again. I could tell she was angry.  
"I will get you back!" She said and lunged towards us. But then she and us started to get father apart, and it looked like someone had caught hold of her legs and dragged her away.  
Suddenly, she was out of sight.  
"Look!" Doughboy pointed to a door behind us. The door opened and there was a lot of light. The door came closer and closer, until suddenly-but I can't explain it very well. It's like crossing from a world to another world. The next moment, we were falling, and landed on the soft, mellow grass below. We looked up and saw the door, and the newly risen moon.  
"The Fourth Dimension." Doughboy whispered.  
  
And coming up next time, the Origin of the Jewel is revealed, and so is a Jewel bearer. Just wait until you meet Kanari! 


	4. Enter Kanari

Cardcaptor Sakura does not belong to me but this story does  
Please review individually for each chapter! Thanks, I really apreciate it!  
Ariel has been sent to the Fourth Dimension, so now 'Ariel's Destiny' has officially ended, hence the Jewel Series will now begin (preview for the future: It's followed by a list of chronicles, which I haven't listed yet. More info in the Table of Contents!)  
  
The Jewel Series  
Enter Kanari  
It was weird, the day after our experience. And the night we went into the fourth dimension, it was Tuesday, a school night. So naturally, I didn't have my homework done.  
I woke at seven as usual, groaning and trying to straighten my room. I was talking to myself, telling myself what had happened last night was true and not merely a dream.  
Then I remembered my homework.  
It hit me like a brick, and I ran out of my room to the kitchen. My mom was there, making breakfast, and I grabbed something to eat.  
"Why are you in such a rush?" She asked.  
"I have to meet Snowy at school." I bluffed. I was really hoping to see her there. My mom just nodded and I escaped out the door, with a bagel halfway in my mouth.  
"Hey, Yuki!" Doughboy waved from the corner of the street.  
"Why are you so early?" We both asked each other.  
Doughboy sighed, and said, "I'm going to Becki's house."  
"Oh." I said, and then smiled sweetly. "Did you remember to do your homework?" Doughboy groaned, and then said, "I'll do it in class."  
"Darn." I said under my breath.  
"What was that?" Doughboy asked. We started to walk to school.  
"Uh...nothing." I said. "I was talking about the barn."  
"Barn?"  
"Yeah, you know, the book I'm reading."  
"Barn...hmm...don't you mean Animal Farm?"  
"Yeah." I said, even thought I had no clue what he was talking about.  
"So, why are YOU so early?" Doughboy asked.  
"Uh." I thought for a while. Rene would say for softball practice, but Doughboy knew I didn't play softball. "Uh, well, I'm going to meet, uh, Snowy."  
"Oh really." Doughboy said. "Does she really come to school this early?"  
"All the time." At least this wasn't a lie.  
So there Doughboy left for Becki's house and I headed for Bridgestone Academy, where Rene had softball practice. I knew Snowy would be busy for the moment, and today she probably would still be home.  
It was tryouts again, and Rene was there, along with some girls I knew and some I didn't. But there was this one girl that caught my attention.  
She was blond, blue-eyed, and about a few centimeters taller than I was. She was watching from the stands, waiting to be called on. But I was sensing something from her.  
"A force?" I asked myself. "Something of the sort?"  
But before I knew it, Rene was dragging me across the field and to Sabreda Grade School, which was practically across the street from Bridgestone.  
"Rene-" I started to say but was cut off short.  
"Snowy phoned me last night." Rene gushed. "And she told me all about your adventures, and I've decided that you MUST have costumes or else those wimps that are evil won't take you guys seriously. So I'm here to support you, and I'm going to create costumes for you all."  
"That's real nice Rene, but-" And again I was cut off.  
"You know my mom, it's not a problem, leave it all to me, I'll be so, so pleased to do it." Rene said. I sighed and gave in. Rene's mom owned the toy department and was considered, I guess, rich.   
Snowy was at school, hanging around with those kids I have never cared to hang out with and never will, but reputation to Snowy was important. Never less, I was glad that she came to me as soon as she saw me, and I was able to explain what happened, that is, after Rene wandered away. I felt uneasy about telling Rene all this, perhaps because she didn't have any magical powers and I was afraid to get her mixed up in this.  
"We HAVE to find out what is behind the Jewel." Snowy said, frustrated. "C'mon." She mounted her broomstick.  
"Where do you think you're going?" I used the Fly Card and chased after her.  
"If we can somehow sense Eriol, perhaps we can tap out something." Snowy said, circling above the school. "Perhaps." She flew towards the park and I followed.  
"Are you sensing something?" She asked. I closed my eyes and hovered above the park. "Anything?"  
"That way." I pointed and we both nose-dived down.  
"Look!" Snowy pointed to Colton, who was drinking water from the lake in the pond. "It's that beast."  
"Colton." I said, and landed on the ground softly. Colton turned around. "Colton." I sad again, and looked at Snowy, who was staying a safe distance away from the beast. "We really don't know about the Jewel, and if we did know, what harm is it for you to explain it to us again. Please tell us about the Origin of the Jewel." Colton sighed.  
"I told Eriol you didn't have a clue, but would he listen?" Colton shook his head. "No, all he was interested was getting that Jewel, and now we lost Ariel." He pointed his head in the direction of the sun, due east. "Ariel." He whispered.  
"So?" Snowy asked, getting impatient. Colton sighed again.  
"It goes like this: In this world, there is a Jewel that has very mysterious powers in it, but no one knows what. The Jewel is white, and one day, someone captured it, but then it passed through a prism and became seven little Jewels. Those seven Jewels scattered around the world, and no one knows now what ever happened to them." Colton hung his head. "I supposed you guys had the Jewel, and anyways, if you didn't, you guys have enough power to summon the Jewel and to sense it, so that's why we wanted to capture and destroy you, before you got the Jewel."  
"I see." I said, and started to ask another question when Snowy began to pull me away behind a tree.  
"Eriol." She said, pointing to a boy heading through the park. "Let's go." The two of us rose from our wands and flew pack to school.  
"You know what?" I said. "I think that that blond girl might have had a Jewel in her." Snowy swerved her broomstick and turned to face me.  
"You must be kidding." She said. I shook my head.  
"I'm not." I said. "She just could be a Jewel Bearer. And Eriol and Colton can't sense anything, so that's good."  
"Listen." Snowy said, as we arrived back at school. "There's nothing we can do for now as long as we have to hide our identity and go undercover."  
"This isn't really working, you know." I said. "Anyone could see us flying around in the sky, as if we were some sort of UFO's."  
"We NEED to find Liz and Doughboy." Snowy said, urgently, as if there wasn't a second to lose.  
"All right." I said. "Our plan is to stop Colton and Eriol from entering that Fourth Dimension to rescue Ariel and to pick us all seven Jewel's before it's too late."  
"I'm almost sure that Colton and Eriol can sense something too." Snowy said, and then turned her head. "Look, there's Liz and Doughboy." And there they were, waving to us. He sprinted across the school grounds to tell them to news.  
"How interesting." Doughboy said. "Okay, we can't do anything until after school." And then the bell rang all of a sudden.  
I usually sleep through homeroom, that is, if I didn't have a test to study for or any homework, which I did that day. While I was busily scrambling to do my work, I almost missed the teacher introducing a new student to the class. I looked up just in time to hear her say, "And this is Kanari."  
I saw her, and my mind just froze up. The girl at the tryouts! I passed Liz, who was in my homeroom an urgent look, and she closed her eyes. A minute later, she looked at me and nodded. She had sensed something too.  
At lunch, the four of us discussed it.  
"I just don't get it." Snowy said, picking up a hamburger in the line. "We all sensed something from her, but we can't do anything now."  
"She has the Jewel, I'm pretty sure of it." I said. "But we just don't know how to get it out." Doughboy scowled.  
"There has to be a way to summon the Jewel. Maybe in that book of yours…"  
"Sorry Doughboy, put my book says absolutely nothing about capturing Jewels." I said, punching in my lunch number. "I'm sorry."  
"Arg!" Doughboy grabbed his head with one hand, balancing his plate with another.  
"I know, these Jewels are real puzzles." Liz grabbed a stack of napkins for us and smiled. "Don't worry, we'll get it in the end."  
"It's not that." Doughboy said. "Becki just passed by." We all sighed and gave Doughboy a look.  
"Oh." He said. "Uh, sorry."  
"I don't understand it." Liz said. "What ARE we supposed to do, go up to her and say, Jewel, I summon you to come out?" Snowy made a face.  
"Exactly." Liz said. Snowy laughed.  
"What's so funny?" I wanted to know.  
"I meant the burger." Snowy said.  
"Anyways, we have to try something." Doughboy said.  
"Eriol and Colton probably would know." I said. "We have to find them again."  
"Okay." Doughboy said. "After school, be there." And Doughboy ran off to talk to his friends.  
After school, I headed towards E-Team, since it was Wednesday and I had after school practice. I was climbing the front steps when I heard footsteps racing behind me. I turn around.  
"Oh." I said. "What's wrong, Doughboy?"  
"Snowy says she's got to go home immediately, and so I was going to get you to come with me to find Eriol." Doughboy panted.  
"Oh, sorry." I said sheepishly. "I sort of forgot to tell you I have E-Team today." Doughboy scowled.  
"You sort of forgot?" Doughboy raised his eyebrows. "Come on, can't you skip it for once?"  
"No." I said. "That's bad for the whole team."  
"Are you that selfish to let the whole word down for just one E-Team practice?" Doughboy asked.  
"Well." I said awkwardly, because I wasn't sure what to say, but never less, I was distracted. William Thomas Bice the Third poked his head out from the stair railing on the second floor.  
"Yuki." He said. "You're going to be late for E-Team." He disappeared.  
"See." I said to doughboy. "Sorry, but I have to go. "Look for Liz."  
"But." Doughboy said, as I started walking again. "But then it would be two to two in a combat." I pretended I didn't hear him, but I didn't, and E-Team practice was hard to concentrate on. I was going to Snowy's house after E-Team, to see what was going on, and why she couldn't help Doughboy, when I ran into Rene.  
"Oh, Yuki." Rene gushed. "I was just looking for you. Come to my place for a while."  
"Have you seen Snowy?" I asked frantically. Rene nodded.  
"She's at my house, and we're pouring over magazines." Rene announced.  
"WHAT?" I asked.  
"We're looking at possible outfits the four of you could possibly wear." Rene said. "Oh, I'd love to be in your position."  
"Uh, really?" I asked.  
"Yes." Rene said. "Magical powers, a destiny, what a great adventure!"  
"I dunno." I said very doubtfully.  
"Anyways, we're got to pick out an outfit to be designed for you." And she started to drag me to her house. I was amazed. As short as she was, she had a lot of power.  
Snowy was there, looking at this and that.  
"I've already chosen this one." Snowy said, showing the picture. It was a nice, bright costume, with designs.  
"Looks good." I said. "Rene, do I HAVE to pick something?"  
"Yes." She said. "But you can pick more than one. Oh, I'm going to so love this!"  
"Really?" I asked, flipping through the magazine. "You know Snowy, Liz and Doughboy might need our help."  
"Oh." Snowy froze. "I just remembered. I am sorry, but I, like, SO forgot. Where were you after school?"  
"E-Team." I said. "Hey, Rene, this looks good." Rene circled it and doodled some numbers on an ordering sheet. I picked what looked like a fairy's costume. "Light and bright, and I look like some sort of white witch." Rene laughed.  
"Oh no." Snowy moaned. "I just can't believe we left them."  
"C'mon." I said. "If you feel so bad, I'm starting to feel bad too. Let's go find them."  
We both bid Rene goodbye and headed towards the door. Rene led us towards the back door, and we mounted from the back yard.  
"We really need phones, or beepers, or trackers." Snowy said. I shrugged.  
"We can try to find some later." I said. "Are you sensing anything?"  
"No." Snowy said. "Nothing, zit, oh!" She sat up straight, as if listening, and closed her eyes. I watched her. Then she opened them and frowned. "I'm so sure I sensed something." It was my turn to try.  
"I don't sense anything." I said. "But I think we'd better head towards the park." Snowy shrugged.  
"What else can we do?" She said. "WE pick up most of our clues there."  
"I think Eriol's on to her." I said to Snowy as we flew.  
"Kanari?" Snowy asked. "She was in two of my classes. She seems real nice, but I sensed something from her too."  
"Good or bad?" I asked.  
"If you mean if I sensed any evil, I didn't." Snowy said. "If she does have a Jewel in her, I feel so sorry for her. She's so very nice."  
"I know." I said. "And a name like Kanari."  
"Yuki's nice enough for you." Snowy sniffed, and added, "Besides, we're here to not to compare ourselves, but to bring justice to this world."  
"You tell them." I said. I smiled, and then frowned. "Look, there's the door again." Snowy shivered.  
"I don't ever want to go there again, especially without Doughboy's aid." Snowy said. "That was the freakiest place I have ever know or been."  
"Yeah, I guess." I said. "No light. Oh, well, the sun will set in an hour or so."  
"Also, the Dark Card was there." Snowy added. As we approached the door, Snowy began to frown more and more.  
"What is it?" I was afraid to ask.  
"Look on the door." She said. I looked. Slash marks. "The door must be real though." I said weakly.  
"If it holds the fourth dimension, then I will assume it can break Liz's sword." Snowy said. "Eriol's defiantly been here, to try and rescue Ariel." I shivered, and then whispered,  
"I'm not liking the looks of this."  
"Me neither." Snowy looked around. "I sense something coming from that direction." I looked, and saw something remarkable.  
"Uh, Snowy, is it just me, or is that place slightly glowing blue?" I asked, shaking.  
"Oh." Snowy rubbed her eyes and peered at the blue spot. "Yes, I think you're right."  
"Let's go, immediately." I said, and flew towards the blue.  
"Wait for me." Snowy caught up with me in a matter of seconds.  
"Just please don't let this be a trap." Without warning, I slipped of my wand and held on with one hand. The wings at the end spread out like parachutes, and I safely floated to the ground. Snowy landed softly beside me.  
"Wow, you had me scared there." Snowy said. "C'mon, it's this way." I followed her into a clearing.  
Snowy stopped, and gasped. Her eyes opened wide. I blinked at her expression, and then looked for myself. My eyes opened in horror.  
  
I hope you like cliff hangers, but at least I posted the next one up with it. Please, please, please review! 


	5. Kanari's Secret

Cardcaptor Sakura does not belong to me but this story does.  
Another Kanari episodes, b/c I got so caught up in writing about her. I hope everyone will enjoy it, especially you, Kanari!  
  
Kanari's Secret  
The blue light was emitting from Kanari. She was curled up in the middle of the clearing, in a round ball, glowing. The ball was blue, of course, but it was to my amazement that she looked blue too, and that he eyes looked blank. She was crying.  
Liz and Doughboy where on our side of the clearing, both badly beaten. Then I realized. Eriol and Colton were on the other side. A magnificent battle must have occurred. Colton had wings, and no one could beat that.  
Doughboy was lying on the grass, not moving. I gasped, and pointed it out to Snowy. Liz was sitting beside him, panting. With the big trees, it was not a wonder this whole world was plunged into darkness, even if it was a clearing. It was a mighty small clearing, for a fact.  
"Someone is going to notice the light Kanari is emitting sooner or later." I whispered to Snowy. We were still hiding behind some bushed. "Look at Eriol and Colton."  
There was horrifying blood on Colton's side, which looked as if Liz had sliced through it. Colton was lying on his other side. Eriol's face had several bruises, which led me to think that Doughboy had punched him instead of using powers.  
"Let's go." Snowy said, pointing to Doughboy and Liz. "The sooner we help them, the better."  
"Okay." I said, gave her a pained look, and we both rushed out.  
Eriol's head snapped up, and Liz, who had been kneeling over, looked up also.  
"Snowy." Liz called weakly. "Yuki." We both ran over. I turned Doughboy over, and he threw up.  
"Oh." I moaned. "Snowy." Snowy came over to look. There was a series of bloody holes in Doughboy's side.  
"Ouch." Snowy said. "Is he still breathing?" I put two fingers on his wrist.  
"Yes." I said. "Let me handle this, and you keep an eye on Eriol. If we hadn't gotten here at this time, he might've won." I pulled out the book, and flipped to the very back. I pulled out a tiny diamond bottle, full of purple stuff. I opened Doughboy's mouth and let a drop inside. Then I used the Water Card to make him swallow.  
"Urg." Liz said, watching. "What IS that stuff?"  
"Cordial." I said. "A type of medicine that is supposed to heal your wounds with one drop. It's magical, made from magicians." I went over to Liz and examined her. She had some scars on her face, and her hands were bloody. I gave her a drop.  
"So how long does it take?" Snowy asked, worriedly. She knew we had school tomorrow, and that everyone expected their child to be home in time for dinner. "It's already five."  
"Already?" I asked. "Uh, let me see." I flipped through the book. "It says that it will start to heal almost immediately, but it may still take up to four hours to heal completely." I gave Snowy a worried look. Meanwhile, Liz was using the Watery to wash her hands.  
"The blood is from Doughboy." She informed us. "Otherwise, I just hope the scars go away quick. I was careful, but he needed good protection and couldn't do anything."  
"I'm sorry." I said. "I guess Doughboy was right, it was kind of selfish of me to go to E-Team. Look at him now." I stood up and looked at Doughboy, who was slowly coming to.  
"I'm sorry too." Snowy said. "I guess I never took things seriously, and I just forget a lot."  
"It's not anyone's fault." Liz said. "This happened because it was destined to happen, and we can't change that." Liz got down on her knees and went through Doughboy's book bag, which was lying near the grass.  
"Look." Snowy pulled out a white T-shirt. "Doughboy's PE clothes. As soon as he's well, he can change into these."  
But it was already a little to late.  
Not for Doughboy, I mean, but for Kanari.  
"Master Mind Forward the Jewel!" Eriol called, and then aimed his sword at Kanari. Kanari looked up, frightened, and then there was a flash, and Kanari was thrown to the edge of the clearing. The light had left her, and where she had been, there was a Jewel, a glowing yellow Jewel, that lit up the clearing.  
Eriol grabbed it.  
All of a sudden, the light emitted and we could see the dim figure of Eriol running away.  
"Can you believe that?" Snowy said as she ran after him. "He left Colton here!"  
"Liz, look after Doughboy!" I ran after Snowy, but it was already too late. Eriol disappeared into the shadows. When we arrived back in the clearing, Colton was gone.  
"He just flew off." Liz said. " And I couldn't do anything. Doughboy was throwing up." We all looked at Doughboy. He was wide-awake now, looking around. He had also changed into PE shirt, and, in fact, looked as he normally did, chubby and round, only with a lot of bruises.  
"Are you okay?" Snowy asked. "You look very weak." Doughboy gave her a smile.  
"I'm all right." Doughboy said. "Colton's bullet's are gone now, and all that's left are some bruises." Doughboy rubbed his skin under his shirt. He looked very pale and feeble, and he erratically stood up.  
"That was some battle." Liz said. I returned the Watery to a Card.  
"C'mon." Snowy looked at her watch impatiently. "How much power have you got left, Doughboy?"  
"Not any magical powers left." Doughboy said faintly. Snowy and I exchanged a look. Then we both mounted our broomsticks. Liz rode on Snowy's while Doughboy rode on mine.  
"I owe you guys one back there." Doughboy said. "Where are we going?"  
"To Rene's house." I answered. "Snowy and I left our book bags back there, and we'll pretend we're spending the night over at her house." Snowy nodded.  
"Rene won't mind, and besides, you have way too many bruises." Snowy added. "Rene's mom isn't home tonight."  
"I still can't believe that Eriol got the first Jewel after all." Doughboy said angrily. "It's like I risked everything for nothing. Do you think I would've gone to the Fourth Dimension?"  
"Let's not talk of it until tomorrow." Liz said. "All we need right now is a warm bath and a nice sleep."  
"Yeah." Doughboy said. "We'll explain everything tomorrow. What should we do with the other shirt?"  
"Well, where is it?" I asked. Doughboy pointed to his bag. "Eww! You put it in there?"  
"In a plastic bag." Doughboy said. "So?"  
"We'll burn it." I said. "As soon as we get to Rene's house."  
We arrived five minutes later, all of us exhausted. First, Doughboy phoned his family, then Liz, then me and last, Snowy. Doughboy was allowed to use the shower first, while we took the plastic bag outside in the backyard.  
"Firey Card, burn this bag to nothing! Firey, Release and Dispel!" I yelled, but not too loudly, and the Firey Card came out. It was quick and dangerous, so after it was complete in doing its job, I quickly sealed it again, and we went inside.  
Rene and Liz were talking about recipes, and in the end, Snowy, Rene, and I ended up cooking. I was a major failure; I never cooked a whole meal before. No one talked much at dinner, but I wasn't sure if that was because everyone was so tired or because the food was so bad they were afraid to talk.  
"I'm going to go to sleep." Doughboy announced, and headed towards one of the guest rooms. Rene had a big house.  
"So, Liz, what really happened?" Snowy inquired. We had already told Rene our version of the story.  
"Well, I'm not sure if I should talk about it, especially without Doughboy." Liz said. "But I'll tell you something important first." She lowered her voice. "Eriol knows where Ariel is."  
"We know." Snowy said. "We visited the door first, the door that…" she broke off very suddenly. "Oh snap! We forgot Kanari!"  
Liz turned blue, and so did I.  
"I totally forgot about her." I said. "She just seemed to vanish after Eriol."  
"She must be still out there." Snowy said, and went to the window. She withdrew one of the curtains, and looked out. The sun had already set and it was turning pitch black.  
"Listen, Liz." I said, turning around, having followed Snowy. "Please go to sleep and rest well. I promise we'll bring Kanari back in the morning." Snowy shot me a look, but I could not meet her gaze. "We have to." I whispered. "The Jewel just shot out of her foot like that, her big toe."  
Liz trusted us and went up to bed, while Snowy and I sat down to discuss what to do. Rene watched us.  
"The only thing we CAN do now is to look for her." Snowy said. "You promised, remember?"  
"Yes." I said, defiantly. "And that is exactly what I will do."  
I opened the back door, and looked at Snowy, who had a shocked expression on her face. She smiled, and grabbed her coat and hat.  
"Don't you think I'd come along?" She asked, and we both rose up into the air.  
"Think about it." I said. "Yesterday, this Jewel thing and Kanari never existed. Day before that, we were totally clueless until the afternoon."  
"Time travels fast at a different rate in different stages." Snowy murmured. "C'mon, where do you suppose she could be?"  
"Anywhere." I said. "Now that the Jewel is out, we shouldn't be able to sense a thing."  
"I'm curious about her." Snowy said. "Where does she live, why did she move, how she bears the Yellow Jewel, all that."  
"I'm just scared." I said. "I'm not used to being out after sunset, even with another person and loaded with weapons."  
"Weapons?" Snowy looked me over as if she suspected I had guns or something. I held up my book. Snowy said, "Ooh."  
We flew to the park in unison, but we had our doubts.  
"There is NO way we'll be able to find Kanari." Snowy said. I clenched my teeth together.  
"I promised." I said. "Let's go visit the door." We flew to the door. "Light, Release and Dispel." With the power of the Light Card, I looked the door over.  
"Eriol definitely slashed this door." Snowy said. "Don't you find it odd, just hovering here, and apparently, it leads no where. You can see the other side of the door, and feel it too."  
"I think we may be the only ones that can see it." I said. "I don't like this place. It brings back memories and is spooky."  
"Look over there." Snowy pointed. "I think that was the clearing." We flew over a little closer. A star poked out, and so did the moon, allowing me to seal the Light Card, since we didn't need to use it anymore.  
"Great." I groaned.  
"The philosophers navigated by the stars." Snowy said. "I believe that may just work in our case."  
"Uh, what makes you say that?" I asked, looking at her. She was staring at the star.  
"An ancient guess." Snowy said. "Things don't happen for no reason." I shrugged. She flew underneath the star. "Around this region." We both started searching and calling. I felt like an idiot.  
After three minutes, we found Kanari huddled up underneath a tree.  
"I tried to get the Yellow Jewel for you guys, but I lost my way." She said. "And I was lost." We smiled, and I apologized to Snowy. "Gee, thanks for coming back to look for me." She said. "It was getting quite cold."  
"You should've tried to sleep." Snowy said.  
"I was getting tired and it was getting dark." Kanari said. "Every time I heard a noise, I jumped, so I made myself fall asleep." Snowy nodded.  
"Smart." She said, in a nice way.  
"Hey, let's go back now." I suggested, and mounted my stick. "Kanari, do you want to ride with me?"  
"Sure." Kanari got on and we flew back to Rene's house, where Rene was waiting eagerly.  
"I was SURE something bad happened." Rene said, opening the door for us.  
"Gee, what faith you have in us." Snowy muttered sarcastically and closed the door. After we all cleaned up, we both began to question Kanari. Rene wanted to stay and hear, but confessed she was too tired.  
"So, Kanari, did you know about this Jewel?" Snowy asked. Kanari shook her head.  
"It shows up on the X-ray screen, though." Kanari said. "When I lived in Norway, they were planning surgery to see what it was, but then we had to move. It was located on my right foot, by my big toe."  
"I see." Snowy said. She pulled out a pencil and pad and began jotting things down. I stared. "And did you, by any chance, understand a tiny bit about this Jewel?"  
"My mom and my dad couldn't understand what it was." Kanari said. "It was just a big metal lump in my foot. I couldn't see it, or feel it, but it was just there." I cut her off.  
"Do you know when you got it?" I asked.  
"It must have been that night me and my friends decided to go around the space tower." Kanari said. "It was really late, and we went to this space tower, by the nearby castle, which is by a lake. I was about seven years old. They kids I were at said they say sparks flying off a balcony of one of towers of the castle, so we went to investigate. There was a shadow, all dressed up in a robe, and when we talked to it, it threw the sparkly things at us. I remember them hitting me, and I had a lot of bruises after that, but I never thought until afterwards that one of them could have been the Jewel." Snowy looked at me, puzzled.  
"But why just one of them, if you had been pelted by many pieces?" She asked.  
"Perhaps only one of them was real." I suggested. "Go on." Kanari sighed.  
"I have weird dreams sometimes."  
"Like?"  
"Like sometimes, it's rowing in a canoe with a dwarf." Kanari said, frowning. She was straining her mind, trying to remember. "Quite odd." Kanari sighed. "And some of them…I had wings, golden yellow wings, fair and bright. I could soar. I had a destiny…it was as if these dreams continued, and then suddenly, because of this, became real."  
"Huh?" Snowy and I looked at each other.  
"Perhaps it's like Doughboy." I said. "It's like he can dream about things, and they happen a few days later. A prophecy/warning kind of thing."  
"You think?" Snowy looked doubtful.  
"Is Doughboy that one boy that tried to save me?" Kanari asked. We both nodded. "Tell him thank you."  
"Aren't you going to stay?" Snowy asked. Kanari shook her head. "No, I don't think so."  
"What are you going to tell your parents?" I asked. Kanari smiled.  
"Don't worry, I wouldn't give this away for anything. I'll just tell them I went to the movies with my new friends." She grinned. "Wait until they take another X-ray test and discover the metal chunk is gone!" Kanari got up to leave.  
"One more thing." Snowy said, jotting down more and more on the pad. "Did these dreams, about the dwarfs, come true?"  
"Oh, not really." Kanari said, pushing in the chair and walking to the door to put on her shoes. "I did go row in a canoe, with one of my friends, one that was all dressed in green, very short, and, in a way, looked like a dwarf. And I did have dreams about fairies coming to take the jewel away. Except I didn't know it was the Yellow Jewel, only a big yellow thing." She frowned. "So what IS with this Jewel thing?"  
"I'll explain it to you in homeroom tomorrow." I said, and Kanari left.  
"Well." Snowy sighed and we both looked at each other.  
"It looks like we have a lot of explaining to do." I said. "To everyone."  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~J  
The next day, I woke up, and frowned. This wasn't my ceiling. Then I remembered. Rene's house. Last night. Eriol, Colton and Kanari. I sat up straight in my room.  
"Snowy?" I jumped out of bed and pounced on another room. Liz was inside, making her bed.  
"Oh, hey Yuki!" Liz cheerfully said. "Did you find Kanari?"  
"Of course." I said. "I promised, remember? Snowy took notes when we interviewed her."  
"Cool."  
"What is this about me?" Snowy asked. She poked her head out of her room. Doughboy poked his head out from his, and rubbed his eyes (he had to take off his glasses first).  
"Huh?" Doughboy put on his glasses, and blinked. "What happened?"  
"Are you okay?" I asked him. Doughboy smiled grandly.  
"Fully healed." He announced. "For breakfast."  
Breakfast was made a fast meal. I ate heartily until I remembered my homework again.  
"Oh, Gee Whiz, sometimes I just hate this whole Jewel business." I wailed. "My 4.0 is going to go down."  
"Stop complaining." Doughboy said. He had finished his homework in class. I glared at him. "You're always so picky about grades. You yell when I don't get good grades."  
"I'M PICKY?" I asked. "You were whining to me in a note just yesterday about having a 95 in math and how that was two points away from a B!"  
"I'd be glad to have that." Rene slurped her cereal, and smiled. "Are we all ready for school?" Doughboy groaned.  
"School." He whined. "Can't we say that I'm sick or something?" All four of us looked at him. "Okay." Doughboy put up his hands. "I surrender."  
"The old Doughboy is back." Liz groaned. "I hate this." We all explained what had happened last night on the way to school.  
"I can't believe we let Eriol get away with the first Jewel." Doughboy said.  
"And Kanari's Jewel too." I muttered.  
"Hey, take it lightly." Snowy said. "We didn't know what to do, and he's shown us now."  
"What does he say again?" Liz asked.  
"ER, Master Mind Forward the Jewel, or something like that?" I suggested. Snowy nodded.  
"Yeah, I think it was that."  
"I am just so mad." Doughboy said. "Our first chance to capture the Jewel! Who knows when we'll get another try?"  
"I'm so determined to capture the next one." I said. "Whatever it is, we can do it." They all nodded.  
"The costumes should be here in a couple of days." Rene said. "I also ordered some other stuff. I hope you'll enjoy it."  
"We will." I said. "Now this thing becomes serious. We have three missions, find the Jewels, stay undercover, and make no one suspect."  
"Isn't that the same thing as undercover?" Doughboy asked. I gave him a look, and whispered, "I couldn't think of another one."  
"Oh." Doughboy said, then froze and jumped behind Liz.  
"What's wrong?" Rene asked. All of us looked. Becki was walking up a block ahead.  
  
Haha, very funny, eh? Please review! *_* 


	6. Nakita's Quest

Cardcaptor Sakura does not belong to me but this story does.  
Hahaha, I don't even know why this is called Nakita's Quest, except to me, it sounds like something worth reading, and I think it is!  
Well, meet the second Jewel Bearer, Nakita! Only five more to go...then the grand finale...and then something new!  
  
Nakita's Quest  
So, like after a week after Kanari, things were starting to shape up. I still had my straight A's, Kanari understood, and all of us became good friends. Well, all of that was pretty well, that is, until Nakita appeared.  
Nakita had been my friend, even before all this. She had pretty short brown hair, and was really into ghosts. She had glasses, used only for reading, and some of us called her Nikki. She was really cool, but had been sick lately.  
When she came back, I sort of sensed something from her, so I went and told the rest of them.  
"A Jewel?" Kanari wondered. She shuddered. "I hope she doesn't have to go through what I did."  
"I don't think so." Liz said. "Now that we know what to do."  
"Master Mind Forward the Jewel." I murmured. "Master Mind Forward the Jewel."  
"No one is allowed to know about this." Doughboy said. "So we have to summon the Jewel when no one is around."  
"Where do you think the Jewel is?" Snowy asked. Kanari looked at her foot sadly.  
"I don't know." Liz said. "But we can all go hang out one day and one of us can summon the jewel." She looked at me, and so did Snowy, Doughboy, and Rene.  
"Why me?" I cried. "I don't want to."  
"You know her the best." Kanari said. "I wonder what color Jewel it is."  
"Maybe the color of the jewel is based on your favorite color." Rene said. Doughboy shook his head.  
"Kanari was injected with her Jewel." He said. "She couldn't change the color of the Jewel once it was in her."  
"Couldn't she?" Snowy asked, eyebrows rose. Doughboy shrugged.  
"Supposedly not." I said. "Listen, is it just me, or is this whole thing VERY fishy?"  
"I'd go with the fishy." Snowy said. "The point is, somebody has to do it, and you know her the best."  
"I guess." I mumbled. "How about this: We go to the park to hang out, and then we mast mind forward the Jewel?"  
"Er." Doughboy said. "All right." Liz sighed.  
"What's wrong?" Rene asked.  
"This whole thing had to be so complicated."  
"Yeah, I know." I said. "Sometimes you wish you could just quite for once, and just, you know, be a normal person."  
"I don't know." Snowy said. "I like to have a challenge, to be the warrior."  
"I'd like to not have so many responsibilities already." I said, frowning. "Okay, when should we plot this?"  
"Thursday?" Doughboy asked. "I have a dentist appointment tomorrow."  
"Nah." I said. "Piano lesson. Friday?"  
"Okay." Doughboy said. Snowy nodded and the other three agreed.  
"Oh, I almost forgot." Rene dashed out of the room. She came back with a box. Snowy's eyes popped open.  
"It better not be what I think it is." She said. Rene took out a pocketknife ("You carry THAT around?" Doughboy asked. "Gee, Rene, thanks for telling me to stay away.") and began to slice open the tape.  
"They're your costumes." She reached in the box and pulled out some green material and threw it at Doughboy.  
"Green ROBES?" Doughboy asked. Rene shrugged and looked at me.  
"Li wore them." I suggested.  
"Around a hundred years ago, yes." Doughboy exaggerated, and tried on the robes, which were slightly too tight for his obese body to fit into. Liz snorted and Kanari laughed. Snowy raised her eyebrows again.  
"One for Snowy." Rene tossed something Snowy's way. It was pretty, and fairly long, which looked slightly like a dress and a skirt. It was pink, blue, and white. "One for Yuki and for Liz." She pulled out a dress thingy for me also, and what looked like matching robes to Doughboy's costume for Liz, who stared in horror. Hey, at least it wasn't pink. It was tan.  
Then she reached deeper into the box, and grunted. Out of breath, she managed to make out, "This is for Kanari, and (Kanari was hit on the head with a yellow object) and for me." Kanari's costume was also a dress, yellow, with frills.  
"Yellow frills, Rene?" Kanari asked. Snowy gave a kind of laugh.  
"They're better than pink." Snowy and I both said. We looked at each other. It was kind of like Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Rene's costume was a simple red dress.  
"I don't need to be flying." Rene said. "All I'll be doing is video taping."  
"Taping?" Kanari asked. Rene nodded.  
"See." She reached even farther into the box (and this is when I finally realized how tall it was) and fell in. Then she climbed out with a digital camera.  
"Ahh." Liz said. "Great, now we're movie stars."  
"I'm not sure I'm ready for it." Doughboy said uneasily. "I mean-"  
"You're so fat." Liz whispered.  
"Yes, so let's have a vote." Snowy said. "All in favor." Doughboy sniffed and raised his hand. Rene's hand shot up, followed by Kanari's and mine.  
"Oh, well, then NEVER MIND." Snowy said sarcastically. "Gee, for goodness sake, I look like a dancing flower, Rene."  
"Well, it could've been worse." Rene said. "I mean, it looks just like one of those skating uniforms."  
"Rene, if you weren't my friend, I'd have used my Power Hoops on you by now." Snowy said viciously. "I mean, for goodness's sake (again) three flowers and two robed figures?"  
"Hey." Rene said. "They are pretty."  
"I guess." I tugged at the sleeve of mine. "Yeah."  
"Hey, Nakita, want to come to the park with us after school?" I asked.  
"Uh, sure." Nakita said. "Where exactly are we going?"  
"Central Park." I said. "With Rene, Doughboy, Liz, Snowy, and Kanari."  
"Kanari's the new girl, right?"  
"Yeah. She's real nice."  
"Oh. Are you planning a riot on Doughboy or something?"  
"NO!"  
"Then why are there so many girls?"  
"I guess that's just the groups we hang out in nowadays."  
"Cool." Nakita smiled. "Listen, I've got to phone my mom first, but I'm sure she'll agree."  
"Okay." I said. "I'll wait for you." Nakita stuck twenty-five cents into eh nearby pay phone.  
"Hello?" Nakita asked. "Oh, hey. Listen, tell mom that I'm hanging out with some friends at Central Park." I could hear Nakita's brother Jeff on the other line.  
"Okay, squirt, but be home by five to make dinner." Jeff said. "It's your turn."  
"How could I forget?" Nakita laughed. "Bye."  
"You have a nice brother." I said sarcastically.  
"Yeah." Nakita missed the sarcasm. "He's not all that nice, but I turn all his dirty comments into jokes, which irritates him."  
"Uh."  
"So, where are we meeting?" Nakita asked. I pointed to the front door.  
"We're going to walk." Rene, Snowy, and Doughboy were already there when we arrived.  
"Where are the rest of them?" Snowy asked, tapping her foot impatiently. "URG, Kanari and Liz know they have to be prompt with me."  
"Ms. Punctual isn't so punctual today." Nakita said. "Look!" Liz and Kanari were running down the hall.  
"Sorry!" Kanari said, and skidded to a stop beside up, panting.  
"Yeah." Liz said. "We're running late."  
"No problem." Nakita (who, I have to say, lives on smiling) smiled again.  
"Oh, I'm so glad to be out of school!" Rene said, stretching her arms above her head.  
"Yeah." Snowy agreed. Rene and Snowy were walking in the lead, and Kanari and Liz (who were thoroughly tired, brought up the rear).  
"Oh, I just know I totally bombed Mrs. Week's math test." I groaned. "I got a really bad grade!"  
"Was it hard?" Kanari asked. "She didn't make me take it."  
"Extremely." Nakita said. "What's worse, it wasn't multiple choice."  
"They usually are." Liz pointed out to Kanari.  
"And interims come out next week." Rene said.  
"Yeah." Nakita and Kanari both agreed.  
"I can't believe this." Doughboy said. "Is it really next week?"  
"Yup."  
"Oh, no! I have a 95 in math. That's two points away from a B!" Doughboy grabbed his face.  
"Err." Nakita glanced at Doughboy. "I don't really know him all that well, so can I ask if he's always like this?"  
"All the time." Snowy said. Doughboy pouted, sticking out a fat lower lip. Rene looked away.  
"EWW!" She exclaimed.  
"I must say, that's pretty gross." I said.  
"I know." Nakita said, making a face. "Oh, look!" Nakita pointed across the street. "Isn't that Becki?" Doughboy turned to look. Sure enough, Becki, Lindsay, and Jesse were walking down the street together.  
"What's with her?" Doughboy asked. "She doesn't hang around fifteen year olds."  
"I know." Snowy said. "Huh? That's pretty strange."  
"Yeah."  
"Hey, aren't you and Becki…" Nakita looked at Doughboy and made a sign. Doughboy hit his head with his viola case.  
"NO!!!!!" Doughboy screamed, so loudly, that Becki started to look around.  
"ER…not anymore." I said, and poked Nakita in the ribs sharply with my elbow.  
"Ahh." Said Nakita, moving her head up and down, rubbing her side. "I get it." I turned to hide a laugh. I mean, what else could I say? Nakita was my friend, and I didn't want to hurt her. No one did. But we had no other choice. Kanari knew how it was. She was happier this way, and Nakita would be too. Definitely.  
"So, like, I can't believe this!" Kanari squealed, making conversation.  
"What?" Rene asked.  
"The weather." Kanari said. "Is it always this warm?"  
"Yeah, sure."  
"Wow." (Huge smile at the sun.) "How awesome. In Norway, it would be snowing right now."  
"That's Norway for you." Rene smiled. "Snowing, eh? I've never seen snow." Snowy looked up.  
"Huh?" She said. "I heard my name." Suddenly, a tough gust of wind blew our way.  
"What was that?" Liz asked. I froze.  
"I'm sensing something." I shouted.  
"Like?" Doughboy asked.  
"A Clow Card." Snowy said. "Perhaps the Windy?"  
"I already have the Windy." I shouted, above the howling wind. Suddenly it began to snow.  
"Snow?" Rene asked, catching snowflakes on her palm. "But it's way too late for snow."  
"I know." Nakita said. "Something weird is going on. Listen, you guys, ever since last summer, I've been having dreams about having a Blue Jewel in my heart, and now it's coming back."  
"Blue Jewel?" Liz said faintly. "Are you sure?"  
"Yes."  
"Er." Snowy and I exchanged looks, but didn't get any farther, because of another powerful gust of wind.  
"Let's go." Rene said. "Forget the park, let's head over to my house. It's closer." Rene grabbed Liz's sleeve and pulled her towards her house. Snow was falling rapidly now, and sticking to the ground.  
When we finally reached Rene's house, we were all soaked to the skin. We got towels and dried ourselves.  
"What WAS that?" Nakita asked, drying her brown hair.  
"I'm not sure." Rene said. "It's awfully fishy."  
"I'm sure it relates to my Blue Jewel somehow." Nakita said. "I felt a throbbing in my heart."  
"Are you sure there is a Blue Jewel in your heart?" Kanari asked.  
"Of course." Nakita answered. "The doctors even took X-rays."  
"So, perhaps, you'd let us try to remove it?" I suggested. Nakita laughed.  
"We're not joking." Snowy protested, and placed the towel delicately across her lap. "Let us try."  
"All right." Nakita still looked doubtful. I stood up. Raising my hands up in front of myself, like I was summoning something, I said,  
"Master Mind Forward the Jewel."  
There was a slight flash; a flash of blue light, and suddenly, Nakita was thrown across the room. She hit the wall and went unconscious.  
Doughboy rushed over to feel her wrist.  
"Er." He said. "Either I'm not good, or she's not very good." The lights in the room had gone out with the flash, and now only the light with from the Blue Jewel remained. Snowy and I dashed over to Nakita, and Rene rushed out of the room. Liz went to get a cup of water.  
Snowy put her finger on Nakita's neck.  
"Yuki." Snowy said in a sober voice. "She's not breathing." I stomped my foot.  
"I should've known that removing the Jewel from her heart would stop the heart." I said. "We're going to figure out how to do this on our own."  
"The hospital." Snowy whispered. I shook my head.  
"Snowy, I know that that's the right thing to do, but right now, I'm afraid that won't help us. We're running out of time." Rene came in with the first-aid kit and Liz with a cup of water. They placed both on the table, and Rene reached for the light switch.  
"OW!" She yelped, and jumped back.  
"What happened?" I asked quickly, and loudly. I was worried.  
"I was shocked." Rene said. "And look, the light is supposed to be on now." The Jewel was still glowing and caught my eye. That beautiful glittering mass of blue, so neatly polished. I ran up and grabbed it. It was only about the size of a computer key. The light on the ceiling went on, and Nakita stirred.  
"Oh my." Doughboy said. "I think that her heart is beating again."  
"That makes no sense at all." Snowy said. "It's like with Kanari." We looked around for Kanari, who had fainted on the couch when Doughboy announced Nakita wasn't breathing, and was now awake.  
"I know." I said. "If the Jewel takes up a fraction of her body, what happens after the Jewel is summoned out? After it is transported out of her body and then, shouldn't there be one big hole or something?"  
"I believe it has to do with the matter in space." Doughboy said. "When this Jewel entered her, it and part of her body exchanged places, and now the Jewel is out, it has gone back."  
"Er." I said. "Okay, that makes a lot of sense, but where was this fraction before?" Doughboy scratched his head furiously, which looked a lot as if his head was contaminated with lice.  
"It doesn't really matter to us, I guess." Doughboy said. "I suppose we'll find out later, but for the time being, that isn't the main issue."  
"I see what you mean." Snowy said, helping Nakita up. Nakita shakily got up, and groggily made her way to a nearby chair.  
"I wonder how it must feel after a Jewel is extracted from you." Liz said, handing Nakita the cup of water. Kanari shivered.  
"It's like pain, and scariness, like you've never experienced before." She said. "But there's relief in it too. You won't have to suffer all the stiffness it gives you anymore."  
Nakita, who was in a slightly better shape than she had been minutes ago, asked us to explain what had happened. So Doughboy, Liz, Snowy, Kanari, and I explained, while Rene stuck a thermometer in Nakita's mouth, preventing her from talking.  
It took a while, and by the time we were done, Nakita was fully healed, just a little scared.  
"Let's all go somewhere to eat." Doughboy said, and opened the door. He gasped.  
  
I hope you enjoyed it, b/c I can hardely wait to write more; I have it all planned out. Please review (I mean, how hard is it, you read and then you write something and hit the review button) *_* 


	7. Cap's Game

CCS does not belong to me, but this story does. Okay, I've added Cap, who bears the red Jewel. Have fun reading it and please review. Vashness comes in in this episodes....Happy now, Oggy?  
  
Cap's Game  
The snow was several feet deep, and it was hard to get out of the house. It was already pretty late, and my stomach was growling.  
"I know it's not only me, so could we go somewhere to eat for once?" Doughboy said. "And listen to me?"  
"Er." Snowy said. "Sure, but shouldn't we capture the card first."  
"It's too early for a capture yet." I said, looking at the setting sun. "We'd best wait until the sun sets, and Doughboy is right, let's have a meal first."  
"I need to call my mom." Liz said. "And tell her I'm hanging out with friends."  
"She'd never let you." Snowy said. "And neither would my mom. Okay, anyone volunteer to call?"  
"I think we'd better just go home." Rene said, looking nervously out the door.  
"Well, we definitely don't need seven people hanging around here." I said. "Listen Rene, I know you really want to tape this, but just today, lay it off and have a rest. You too, Nakita. You're weak and tired and need a rest. We can show you how it's done some other time."  
"Besides." Doughboy said. "The Jewel Bearers can't help us capture cards."  
"You know, I have a suspicion that they might have magical powers too." Snowy said. "I mean, they sensed the Jewel."  
"Good point." Liz said.  
"Strange." Doughboy started to put on his shoes. "Listen, I won't be of much help, so I'll just go home."  
"And so will I." Liz said.  
"I'll tell my mom I'm at Rene's house for a sleepover." Snowy said. "Is that okay with you and your mom, Rene?" Rene nodded.  
"Mom's working late again." Rene said. "She said she'd be home before eight."  
"Okay, then I'll say I'm spending the EVENING over at Rene's house." Snowy said. "What about you, Yuki?"  
"The Illusion Card." I said. "I'll go home, have dinner, summon the Illusion Card, and then sneak out. The Illusion Card will pretend I'm studying."  
"It's a good thing I finished all my homework beforehand." Snowy said. "And we don't even have a test to study for."  
"It's a miracle." I said. "I actually got my homework done before the end of school."  
"Okay." Snowy said. "Let's go."  
Two hours later, I pretended to take out the trash. Summoning the Illusion Card, I made it walk up the stair, and into my room, saying, "Mom! I'm going to study!" along the way.  
"So?" Snowy asked. She had been waiting a block away, and was sitting on a tree branch. I had flown over.  
"The Illusion Card is so cool." I said. "It's like a robot. When I close my eyes, I can feel it, and make it move."  
"Are you sure it's moving?" Snowy looked worried. I sighed.  
"I really hope so." I said. "C'mon, let's go." Snowy summoned her broomstick and we started to fly.  
"So, any ideas as to how to capture this Snow Card?" Snowy asked.  
"The Firey." I said. "Even though it's an Element Card, and extremely dangerous, I think it's the only choice."  
"You can manage it." Snowy said. She checked her watch. "My mom said to be home by seven."  
"Oh?" I said, flipping through my stack of cards. "What's the time now?"  
"Six-thirty seven." Snowy replied gloomily. I looked up.  
"What?" I said, pulling out the Firey. "That's practically this second!"  
"I know." Snowy said. "Let's get to work."  
"Okay." I said. "Firey Card, melt all this snow! Firey, Release and Dispel!" The form of the Firey Card came up. It was so hot and bright that Snowy shielded her eyes. It had already melted the ground underneath us.  
"Okay." I said. "Let's go." The Firey Card began to move across town.  
"It looks like a shooting star." Snowy said.  
"I know."  
"Hey, I was watching the news at Rene's house, and they say that only our town was snowed in."  
"Very awesome." I said. "Hey what's that?" I squinted.  
"It looks like a cloud."  
"No cloud would be this white this hour of the night." I said. "Oh my! I believe it's the Snow Card."  
"Yeah." Snowy said. "C'mon, let's capture this." Snowy got up in the air, and raised her arms. I wondered what attack she was going to use. So far, she had two: Power Hoops and Golden Ring. The Power Hoops were like two knives, and the Golden Ring was like an endless tunnel of power. It was very hard to explain. The Golden Ring wasn't just two hoops: it was a lot of circles, summoned by the same "Release" position. The circles went straight.  
I followed her up, doubtful. The Fiery Card was still a speck in the sky.  
"Golden Ring!" A streak of light shot out from Snowy's outstretched hands, and hit the Snow Card in full force in the chest. The elements of the card started to waver. I flew up in front of it.  
"Return to your Power, Confined! Snow Card!" The Snow Card returned to its card form.  
"That was some capture." Snowy said, as she watched me return the Firey Card too. "Good job."  
"You did most of the work." I said. "I just melted the snow."  
"And sealed the card." Snowy said.  
"What time is it?"  
"Seven-fifty-two." Snowy said. "My house is that way. I know where to go."  
"Okay! Bye!"  
"Ja ne!" Snowy shouted, and waved over her shoulder. I flew back home, and met the Illusion Card talking out the trash again.  
"Oh boy." I said. "Mom must be cleaning." I sealed the card, and ran up the steps. My mom was frowning.  
"Yuki." She said. "You studied diligently for half an hour, and then wanted to take out the trash. What's with the good behavior?"  
"Er." I coughed. "Nothing mom. I just wanted to be good today."  
"Hmm." My mom frowned and walked back to her room. "Well, whatever you say."  
The next day, it was warm with a light breeze.  
"You just HAVE to come." Kanari was begging. "It's so cool."  
"Well, all right." Nakita said.  
"Sure." Snowy said. "I mean, it's not as if I've got anything better to do."  
"Yeah." Liz agreed.  
So we all agreed to go to the soccer game, because Kanari's little sister, Brittany, was cheerleading.  
"You know, I was just thinking about Eriol, and the Yellow Jewel." I said to Kanari.  
"What about it?"  
"Don't you think we can somehow steal it back?"  
"Er, maybe."  
"I mean, we'd better hurry up in this search. We've wasted two weeks, and who knows how many jewels Eriol has captured in that time."  
"He's probably busy slashing at that door." Snowy said.  
"He is." Doughboy said. "I went to check a few days ago, and that door is so badly slashed up, but a few days later, all the marks were gone."  
"What are you getting at?"  
"Well, it seems that the door repairs itself once a month."  
"How strange."  
"Well, that's good for us." Snowy said. Liz nodded.  
We sat down on the orange seats, and watched the many people get ready for the big event. Nakita wrapped her soft blue jacket around her. As always, it was light blue, like everything else she owned.  
"What's wrong?" Kanari asked. Nakita frowned.  
"It's cold." She said.  
"But it's not cold at all." Kanari said. She checked her watch, which said it was twenty-six degrees outside.  
"Maybe she doesn't mean cold as in that way." Rene said. "I can't sense anything, but you guys try."  
"Okay." All of us bent our heads.  
"I'm not sure." Kanari said. "I thought there was something, but I'm not sure anymore."  
"Yeah." Liz agreed.  
"I sense it slightly." Snowy said. I agreed too.  
"Is it strong?" Doughboy asked Nakita.  
"A little." She said. "You can sense it faintly. I mean, the current of the waves is strong, but it's coming from a far away distance."  
"One of these people have a jewel in them." I said.  
"But which one?" Snowy looked around. "There are so many!" More and more people were gathering on the stands. I frowned and looked around.  
"There's no way to tell." Kanari said. "But we definitely know it's there."  
"Look!" Rene shouted. "The players are entering the field."  
"You should be up there." Nakita said to Doughboy, disapprovingly.  
"He's too big and moves too slowly." Liz said. "That's why he doesn't play any sports."  
"Ahh." Nakita said. "Now we're talking about how agile a person is, eh?" She patted Doughboy's head. "You do need to lose a few pounds." Doughboy blushed.  
"Look!" Kanari was pointing at a small figure on the field. Snowy took out her binoculars and passed them along.  
Brittany Care was with the other cheerleaders, and they were giving a victory cheer.  
"Yay!" Kanari was clapping.  
"How cute." Nakita remarked, scanning the field. "Is that one your sister, the one with the blond hair?"  
"Yeah." Kanari said, happily. "Isn't she cool?"  
"She's very little." Doughboy mumbled, as the binoculars were passed to him. Nakita elbowed him sharply.  
"Better little than fat." Liz said, as the binoculars were passed to the back to her. "And besides, Kanari has a very nice sister."  
"You've met her?" Doughboy asked.  
"No." Liz said. "I can tell just by looking."  
"How nice." Doughboy said. "The people in this Jewel business are psychic." I punched him lightly from the back, since: He was sitting by Nakita, who was sitting by Snowy. Rene was on the other side of Doughboy, and Liz and I were behind them. Kanari was in our row too.  
"The sense is getting stronger." I mumbled.  
"Yeah." Kanari said. "Oh, hey, the players are entering the stadium."  
"It's from that team." Snowy pointed. "Or else the sense wouldn't be getting stronger."  
"Good point." Doughboy said.  
"Well, anyways, I think I'm starting to get a basic idea on who it is." Kanari said.  
"Who?" Nakita asked.  
"Cap." Kanari said.  
"Cap?" I asked. "Who's that?" Kanari pointed.  
"That blond guy." She said. "He sits in front of me in English."  
"Oh." I said, and we resumed back to watching the game.  
"Hey." Doughboy said a few minutes later. "Who is that kid over there?" He pointed a few feet away.  
"Vash?" Nakita asked. "He's the new kid."  
"He's staring this way." Rene murmured.  
"Yeah." Nakita looked away. "Don't look at him." Suddenly, the referee ran up to the middle of the field in the middle of the game, and with the loudspeaker, asked everyone to clear the area: There was bomb threat.  
"Oh no!" Kanari said. "Brittany!" Kanari leaped over a few benches (and people) Rene followed difficulty, and Liz started to follow.  
"Wait." Doughboy said. "Let' stay here, so none of us will get lost."  
"What do you suppose happened?" Snowy said.  
"It could be anything." Nakita said.  
"Er, this doesn't happen very often, does it?" Kanari looked around nervously. She gasped. "Look over there!"  
We turned, and say Eriol. He had jumped onto the field.  
"No one is watching him, because everyone is busy evacuating." Snowy said. Suddenly, she was swallowed into the crowd and disappeared.  
"Oh no." Doughboy said. "Okay, let's all get together, and not get lost."  
"Saying this won't help." Nakita said. "Listen, Snowy will be alright, but it's up to us five to stop Eriol from getting Cap."  
"Okay." I said. "Liz and I will be on it. Nakita, you get Kanari, Brittany and Rene."  
"Do I have to?"  
"Yes, we need immediate help."  
"You're probably right." She said. I was in no mood to argue. "Okay, Liz, let's go. Doughboy, make sure that Rene, Kanari, Nakita, Brittany, and Snowy get out safely, and as soon you get Snowy, the two of you come over to help Liz and I."  
"Good luck." Doughboy said, and the two of us sped down to the field. Eriol and Cap were both nowhere in sight.  
"Oh no!" Liz said. "There could they be?" I thought for a moment.  
"Let's take to air." I dragged Liz behind some trees. "Oh, Key of Clow, Power of Magic, Power of Light, Surrender the Wand, the Force IGNITE!" I shouted, clear and loud. "Release!" The wand came out. "Fly!" Liz clambered on and up we went, searching the skies  
"I see him." Liz said. "Right there." She made a square with her fingers. Eriol was hiding behind a bench, where the coach was sending the players home for the day.  
"Okay." I said. "We probably won't get him in time, but we'll go down anyways." I flew down this time, instead of dropping, because Liz was with me.  
When we got down to the ground, the two of us ran toward the benches to find Eriol. We ran into the rest of the group first.  
"Hey." Doughboy said. "Sorry."  
"Don't be." I said. "Rene, Kanari, Nakita, you guys take Brittany home, and we'll meet at the ice cream shop tomorrow after school. Zip." I looked at Brittany. "C'mon, guys, and gals." We separated.  
"He's this way." Liz said, pointing. "We went up in the air and saw him. He's hiding behind the benches, waiting until Coach dismisses the team." She was running sideways, talking to us, and bumped into Vash and fell.  
"Ouch!"  
"Vash?"  
"Vash!"  
"What are you doing here?"  
"Actually, I'm looking for Kelli." Vash said. "Have you seen her?"  
"Kelli?" Doughboy whispered.  
"His sister." Snowy whispered back. "Vash is new around here, and he just came around sixth period. They were in my class."  
"Actually, I just thought I saw her heading that way." Doughboy said, pointing. Vash frowned, and left.  
"I don't think he believed you." Snowy said as they ran on. We spotted Eriol following Cap, and then they seemed to get in a fight.  
"Eriol's no match for Cap." Doughboy said, huffing and panting. "I should know."  
"Got beat up by Cap, eh?" Snowy asked. "Lot's of people have."  
"If Nakita was here…" I began, but then stopped.  
"What?" Liz asked.  
"If Nakita was here, she would've added to that also." I trailed off. "Yeah." Eriol spotted us.  
"Blade Sword." He threw a series of knives our way.  
"AHH!" Snowy mounted our broom, and Liz hopped on. I did the same with Doughboy.  
"Oh my!" Doughboy said. "MAJOR de ja vu!"  
"What?" Snowy asked.  
"Okay, Colton is behind some bushes, and is going to use an Ariel Attack, so watch out." Doughboy said. "I should've gone with the others, I'm a pain in the butt."  
"Listen." I said. "Liz, Snowy, you try to hold them off, and I'll try to capture the Jewel!" I flew down towards Cap, which was kind of hard, since Doughboy seemed to be pulling me back.  
"Master Mind Forward the Jewel!" Eriol and I cried at the same time. The jewel shot out (and as usually, Cap flew across the grass) and I ran for it. So did Eriol.  
"No!" Doughboy said. "NO, no, no, no, NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Doughboy lost it. He seemed totally transfixed, and a red laser shot out of his eyes, and hit Eriol in the chest. I dived for the Red Jewel, and caught it.  
"I've got it!" I said. Snowy was battling Colton, and Liz rushed over to Cap.  
"We can't let him wake up!" She cried. But it was too late.  
"He already knows about the Jewel." Doughboy said. "He saw what Yuki and Eriol did." Eriol hopped onto Colton as quickly as possible and they flew off. Cap sat up, and rubbed his eyes. Colton and Eriol were already out of sight.  
"What happened?" Cap asked.  
"Well, it was like this, kind of." Snowy started, but Cap cut her off.  
"I don't know what joke you're playing, but I don't like it, nor do I like my dreams." Cap stomped off the grass and into the platform with the other kids.  
"Talk about the lack of gratitude." Doughboy said, sighing deeply. "Well, it looks like I DO have magical powers after all!" We all smiled.  
"He just doesn't want to believe it." Snowy said. "It's better for both of us if we act like it WAS a dream, okay?" Snowy looked at us. Liz nodded and Doughboy and I exchanged looks. I looked at the red Jewel.  
"How shiny, pretty, and innocent." I said.  
"Sis, I've seen it with my own eyes." A figure said.  
"I know." The girl said. "I saw it too, and we have underestimated them."  
"Just remember, we're here to help Eriol."  
"No. We're here to help ourselves, and family."  
"But."  
"No buts. Queen Jewel has hurt everyone, in that country, and we must help. Our family has suffered the most, being so close to the Royal Throne. Eriol must die a "Natural" Death, and these children, well, they will capture the Jewel for us, until we can do it ourselves, and then we will be able to take them and rule the world."  
"Yes." The boy said to his sister through the mirror. "Then it will be all over, and we will remain victorious."  
  
Ooh...I wonder who they could be? I guess it's kinda obvios..but it's not supposed to be *sigh* Review and tell me who you think it is please, so I know what to do next time...I like doing cliff hangers! 


	8. Friend or Foe?

CCS does not belong to me, but this story does.  
Wow, a long chapter. I've been reading my stories (the ones posted on the internet) and I've noticed a lot of spelling mistakes. I'm sorry, and I'll try not to make them.  
Also, I'm going to start dedication my chapters. This one is to, er, Scarlet, b/c it's definately not to Melvin.  
Friend or Foe?  
  
"Really?"  
"Yeah."  
"So there was a bomb?"  
"Yes, but the police came and detached it."  
"That was so freaky yesterday, sitting on those bleachers."  
The endless conversation floated around.  
"Those people don't know scary until they've seen what we've been through." Nakita said, waiting for me to get my books at my locker. "Or what I've been through."  
"No kidding," I slammed my locker shut, locked it, and then hurried to class.  
"Where do you keep the Jewels?" Kanari asked me in a note during class.  
"In a case in my locker." I wrote back. "Snowy and I found out how to bewitch it so it'll only open if I touch it."  
"Really?" Kanari mouthed. I nodded. The science teacher cleared her throat, and continued to teach us the parts of the ear. I sighed. Right at that moment, life seemed as if it had always been the same. I looked around.  
Cap was sitting at the back with Doughboy, and they were snickering at the teacher. Cap seemed perfectly normal, and so did Doughboy. Vash and Kelli were sitting near the window, and I could almost imagine Eriol in my class too. Kanari, Nakita, Liz, Snowy, and I all looked innocent. So did the other boys and girls in our class-like Scarlet, Melvin, Katrina, William Thomas the Third, Alicia, Mary, Allison, Maggie, Chris, Josh and the other kids; most of them I wasn't aware of.  
"You'd think it never happened." Nakita whispered.  
"Nakita, are you talking notes?" The teacher asked.  
"Yes ma'am." Nakita said, standing up.  
"What is the ear drum also know as?"  
"The..." Nakita looked around for help, and at Kanari, Snowy, and I.  
"Tympanic." I whispered, not moving my lips. "Membrane."  
"The, er, Tympanic Membrane." Nakita said. The teacher nodded, and turned her back towards the class again. Nakita sat down and sighed. It was relief.  
"That was close." I said.  
"Yeah." She whispered. "Vash kept looking at me."  
"What do you mean?" I asked. "Everyone was looking at you."  
"Not that way." Nakita giggled, and went back to labeling her diagram of the ear. I frowned, and exchanged a puzzled look with Kanari, who shrugged. Snowy raised her eyebrows.  
"Okay class." Our science teacher turned around once again. "You will have a quiz on the scientific and common names of the ear on Thursday." The class groaned.  
"The anvil is the incus." I said to myself.  
Vash whispered. "Because the Incas build that PLACE with anvils." I blinked, and caught Kanari's gaze. Nakita was staring at Vash. Kanari and I tried not to giggle.  
Nakita frowned at us, then frowned deeper. The class was then dismissed.  
"What is going on?" Kanari asked as the bell rang. "Nakita, are you okay? You spent the whole period staring at Vash."  
"No." Nakita denied. "I thought I sensed something." I dropped my binder.  
"From Vash?" I asked, picking it up. Nakita tilted her head, deep in thought.  
"I don't think so." She said. "It seemed to be coming from the front end of the classroom."  
"I wonder why WE didn't sense anything?" I asked. "Are you sure it was sensing, Nakita?" Nakita nodded confidently.  
"Well, it looks like we have magical powers too!" Kanari smiled "Hooray!" She jumped up and down.  
"Awesome." Snowy said. She had been piling books into her locker. "C'mon, we've got to go to history now."  
In history, Liz was she sensed something, and so did Snowy. It was kind of weird, but by the end of the day, we had listed it down to the following people: Alicia, Scarlet, William Thomas, and Melvin.  
"I'm not exactly sure who it is." Snowy said. "But I'm leaning towards Melvin."  
"Scratch William Thomas." I told Kanari, who had the book. "He's in E-Team and I didn't sense ANYTHING."  
"I was sensing something in Art Class." Kanari said. "So it's either Alicia or Scarlet."  
"I'm not sure." Doughboy said. "I have PE with Melvin and I definitely sensed something."  
"Really?" Snowy asked.  
"Positive." Doughboy said.  
"Maybe they both have Jewel?" I suggested. "It is a possibility, you know."  
"I think that we should all hang out one day, like we did with Nakita, and try the spell." Doughboy said.  
"But now, if someone invited Melvin to hang out with them, wouldn't that look pretty obvious that we're up to something?" Snowy asked. "I mean Melvin is a dork. I don't care if he does have a Jewel or not, but I will NOT hang out with him."  
"All right." Doughboy shrugged. "Only a suggestion."  
"Couldn't we do this when they're no aware of it?" Liz asked.  
"Like when they're sleeping?" Rene asked.  
"I guess." Liz answered.  
"They will probably be thrown backwards like Nakita and I." Kanari said. "Bad idea."  
"There has to be an easier way of doing this!" Doughboy slammed his fist into a nearby locker.  
"I wonder." I said. "If I say Master Mind Forward the Jewel, and they don't have a Jewel, nothing will happen, right?"  
"Err, yeah." Snowy shrugged. "I suppose so." She brightened up. "Great idea, Yuki."  
"Not really." Doughboy said. "What if they DO have one? That would cause quite a large scene."  
"I think we should try Scarlet first." Snowy said. "C'mon, she's right over there."  
"Who wants to invite her?" Doughboy asked. Nakita shrugged.  
"I'll do it." She walked over to Scarlet. 'Uh, hey Scarlet."  
"Hi." Scarlet said, smiling.  
"Listen, we're going to the park, wanna come?" Nakita asked. I saw Scarlet nod.  
"Who could resist that innocent smile?" Doughboy whispered.  
"Definitely not you." I said, irritably. I was in a bad mood because I had to get this Master thingy over with.  
Nakita and Scarlet walked over to us and we walked to the park.  
"Get it over with." Nakita said.  
"Easy for you to say." I said, and raised my hands to summon the Jewel. I was just too late.  
"That's my mom's car!" Scarlet said. "I'll see you guys tomorrow!" She started to run out of the trees.  
"Master Mind Forward the Jewel." I said, quietly, but steadily. There was a small flash, and the next second, the Purple Jewel came flying at me. I snatched it.  
"Scarlet has fainted." Doughboy reported. Doughboy, Snowy, Rene, Nakita, and Liz were leaning over Scarlet. Kanari was looking at the newly captured Jewel.  
"We'll tell her she tripped over a rock and hit her head on the tree." Kanari said. "We can't get too many people involved." Nakita nodded her approval, and dragged a rock beside Scarlet to show the proof. Scarlet was beginning to wake up.  
It didn't take long to tell her the story, and then she apologized and left. We sighed and plopped down on the grass in one great circle.  
"Let me tell you, it is not easy being a Jewel Bearer." Kanari said, wiping the sweat from her forehead.  
"What about a Jewel Capturer?" I asked. Kanari smiled, and happened to look up. She froze.  
Doughboy, who hadn't been looking at Kanari, was still talking. "What about being a fighter. It isn't easy to fight Eriol and Colton you know, especially Colton. In fact-" Doughboy stopped and followed Kanari's gazed. Eriol was perched on the top of one of the palm trees, listening.  
"Ahh!" Doughboy jumped up. "You scared me, Eriol! What do you want?"  
"That newly captured Jewel, what else?" Eriol laughed. "Take a look at this." He held up a Green Jewel.  
"Where did you get that?" Kanari asked.  
"I captured it." Eriol said. "Melvin."  
"Melvin?" Nakita gasped. She was all on this equal rights thing, and the only one of us who defended Melvin what so ever. "How?"  
"He has the Jewel, I captured it, and he thinks it's all a dream." Eriol smiled. "Very simple. And the Jewel Bearers don't have powers. Only the ones that are christened by the gods do."  
"The god?" Rene asked.  
"The angels of liberty." Eriol pointed to Snowy, Doughboy, Liz, and I. "Those who suck enough power of the angels will be able to sense things."  
"How do we suck power?" Kanari asked.  
"All you have to do is stay around them." Eriol said. "It's like magnets. They attach and move around each other."  
"Oh." Nakita raised her eyebrows. "Cool."  
"Awesome!" Kanari said. She smiled broadly.  
"Well, what do you want?" Snowy asked.  
"Obviously." Eriol said. "I have the Yellow and Green Jewel, while you have the Red, Blue, and Purple Jewel. Don't you think I'd want to steal things?"  
"There are still two left." Liz said. "Why don't you get them?"  
"Because I can't sense very well." Eriol replied confidently. "That's Ariel's profession, but thanks to SOME people, she's in the Fourth Dimension, and I'm out here. I can't help her either." Eriol glared at us. Doughboy sighed.  
"Get over it, Eriol." He said, shaking his head. Eriol scowled.  
"So I have to get this over with." Eriol closed his eyes and began to breathe deeply. Suddenly he lunged for me, shouting, "Jewels!" I was knocked over on the grass. Struggling to get up, Eriol pulled out his sword. A small drawstring bag fell out of my possession. Eriol saw it, and started to lunge for it.  
"Release!" Liz drew out her sword and held it out, between Eriol and I, a few inches away from his face. "Don't move." She said. I scrambled to pick up the purple cashmere bag, and stuffed it back into my pocket.  
"This is pathetic." Eriol said, stepped back, and jumped up into the tree. As he turned to go, he said, "Don't worry, I'll be back."  
"What do you think that could mean" Snowy asked.  
"Nothing good, for sure." Kanari said.  
"Return to your Power Confined!" Liz returned her sword to a brooch.  
"Thank you." I said. She smiled modestly.  
"Uh, no problem." Liz frowned. "He said he'd be back, so I just worry for your safety."  
"Yeah." Nakita said. "And there's really not much we can do about you until he's destroyed or until the rest of the Jewels are captured." We all looked at the ground.  
"Hey!" We all turned to look. Across the street, William Thomas was running towards them. "Wait for me!"  
"Ah, William, watch out!" Nakita said. It was too late. As William Thomas skidded to a stop, a car was fast approaching. Kanari covered up her eyes, and Liz winced. Snowy and Rene both started to scream, and Nakita shouted, "Oh no!"  
William Thomas and the car collided. Nakita covered her hands and groaned. The small figure flew up in the air and landed several feet away, in the park. Nakita ran over. William Thomas was in the grass, unconscious.  
"Someone call 911!" The old lady who had hit William Thomas jumped out of the car and rushed over. Horns from behind her honked until she realized the first step was to go back inside her car and remove it so it would not block traffic. Snowy snuck away from the crowd and headed back towards the trees. I saw her take out her broomstick and fly off, supposedly to the nearest pay phone. She came back minutes later.  
"I got there as fast as I could." Snowy said, looking past me at William. "I hope he's all right."  
The ambulance came, picked William Thomas up, and left. They listed him as "critical condition."  
A few days later, we all went to visit William, who had recovered and was now resting.  
"Hi." William said, trying to talk with a tube stuck up a nostril. "I'm sorry I caused you guys all this trouble."  
"That's all right." Nakita said. "I'm sorry we almost got you run over by a car." She winced. "Okay, so you DID get run over, but that wasn't what I meant."  
"I was watching from the other side of the road." William said. Doughboy started to cough loudly, until Snowy jabbed her elbow into his rib cage. "I saw this kid with blue hair and you guys chasing each other around."  
"Chasing?" Liz asked.  
"Well, with a stick." William said. Then the nurse came in, and shooed us out, saying, "He needs rest."  
"Listen, William Thomas knows too much." Doughboy said.  
"Oh no!" Nakita said. "You can't kill him."  
"I didn't say that."  
"Well, when people say someone knows too much, they also say, 'We need to get rid of him.'"  
"Not like that." Doughboy pulled out his pendant from inside his shirt. Snowy tilted her head and looked at him strangely. "Well, it looks like something a girl would wear, so I decided to hide it." Kanari laughed and Nakita rolled her eyes ("There's more to risk than looking good, Doughboy." Nakita said)("Well, I AM a boy." Doughboy replied hotly.) "Anyways, I found out how we can revise his memory."  
"WHAT?" Snowy opened her eyes widely.  
"Yeah." Doughboy said. "You point the pendant towards the person and say, "Memorization' and it will erase whatever you want, as long as you concentrate on the right thing. Anyone care to demonstrate?"  
"You mean be demonstrated on?" Nakita asked. Doughboy nodded. "NO!" She backed away from him.  
"Okay, so we're going to do this to William how?" Kanari asked, flipping through her bag. She pulled out a slip of paper. "I have his address, anyone?"  
"Lemme see that." Snowy grabbed the paper. "250 Lakeshore Dr. Interesting."  
"Lakeshore Drive?" Liz asked. "William must live across the street from me."  
"PERFECT." Kanari said. "I'm out of here. You can have the job, Liz."  
"I don't think so." Liz said. "The only person that knows how to revise the memory system is Doughboy, so I guess he'll have to go."  
"Why can't I be blessed with the justice angels first?" Nakita asked. "I want to see how it's done."  
"That's the whole point." I said. "We DON'T know how it's done."  
"Okay." Doughboy said. "Here's the deal. We'll sneak in at night -I hope you have a good card for this, Yuki- and then I'll revise the memory."  
"Better yet." I said, flipping through my card. "We'll get the sleep card, find him somewhere, cast him under a spell, and revise his memory. That's better than sneaking through his window late at night. The whole neighborhood will think we're burglars."  
"Er." Snowy said, while Kanari laughed. "Let's go outside and talk. I keep thinking that hospitals have security cameras." We gave each other a look, and walked out.  
"It's not as if he knows that much anyways." Nakita said, walking out the front door. "PUH-LEAZE."  
"We can try at E-Team." I suggested. Doughboy frowned.  
"Don't you guys have other people at E-Team as well?" Doughboy asked. I nodded, and raised a finger.  
"But." I said. "I can tell him we're meeting in the wrong classroom."  
"Good." Kanari said. "I want to be there." Nakita nodded too.  
"Okay, so just Doughboy, Nakita, and Kanari." Liz said. "The less the best. Nakita and Kanari will take guard and you will work. Oh, and of course, Yuki will be there to work the card."  
"Won't he see me work the card?"  
"Not if Doughboy re-memorizes that too."  
"Hey, I wonder." Rene said. "Could this help us memorize tests better?" Snowy shrugged.  
"I supposed." She said. "But let's not use it. We leave our magic to beneficial emergency occasions, remember?"  
"I really want to grant you two powers." I said. "But I just can't. Let me see if I can remember what Eriol said." I closed my eyes and tried to strain my memory. Meanwhile, Doughboy was operating his pendant (Yes, behind my back, and even though everyone else knew, they never told me!)  
The scene came back to me:  
"He has the Jewel, I captured it, and he thinks it's all a dream." Eriol smiled. "Very simple. And the Jewel Bearers don't have powers. Only the ones that are christened by the gods do."  
"The god?" Rene asked.  
"The angels of liberty." Eriol pointed to Snowy, Doughboy, Liz, and I. "Those who suck enough power of the angels will be able to sense things."  
"That doesn't help." I said, whining, opening my eyes, and catching Doughboy operating the pendant. "Doughboy!"  
"Hey, it works!" He said. "Go me."  
"I don't know the words to the christening." I said. "Ooh, maybe Colton could tell us?"  
"Maybe." Snowy said. "But let's worry about William for now."  
The next week, after William returned to school, on an E-Team day (Wednesday) I told William that practice was in Mrs. Weeks's class that day (as if E-Team could actually classify as math…well, some parts do, I guess) and he believed me. Kanari and Nakita wandered the hallways for wandering teachers and stopped them in their tracks, asking them class questions. The math teacher had gone to get a cup of coffee, so we were safe for the time being. I was hidden behind a counter, and Doughboy was there too.  
"Okay, Sleep Card, make William Thomas go to sleep! Sleep, Return and Dispel!" I was trying to be soft, but it wasn't working all that well. William turned his head. "Release."  
"What?" William asked, and saw a blue figure of a little girl with a wand come his way. A minute later, he blacked out.  
As I "Return to Your Powers Confined!" the Sleep Card, Doughboy "Memorization" ed William's memory, the parts in the park and what he had just seen. Then Doughboy went out, gave Kanari and Nakita the signal, and all three left. I woke William up, and pretended I had gotten the wrong room. He rolled his eyes and just walked out after me, never mentioning anything. We were still safe.  
  
I didn't know this before, but anywayz, my ratio from hits to reviews is 12:1, so please review. I know people read it, they just don't review, and I can't understand it. Thank all those who reviewed. 


	9. Mind Your Own Business!

CCS does not belong to me.  
Well, I'm finally posting. Ulala was writing this story, but NO, she HAD to forget...this is for her.  
  
"Mind Your Own Business!"  
"Uh, Nakita?" Kanari asked. "Wanna come to the Ice Cream Parlor with me after school?"  
"Uh, is Yuki going?" Nakita asked, tucking a strand of dark brown hair behind her ears, and jamming the last of her books into her locker.  
"No." Kanari said. "She said she had to baby-sit."  
"Okay, then I can't go." Nakita said, locking the locker and dusting herself off. "I promised Yuki I'd help her baby-sit, since she's baby sitting Ulala, and her younger sister Meredith."  
"Can I come too?" Kanari asked.  
"Rather not." Nakita said. "Yuki might get mad, since Ulala's mother had to pay to have me there, and I don't think she would be too happy to pay for three baby sitters when two would be fine."  
"Oh, okay." Kanari said. "C'mon, we're going to be late for 8th period."  
"So this is it?" Nakita asked.  
"Yeah." I said. "They have a really great house. I'm glad you agreed to help me out. Ulala's really wild, but while usually I can handle her, I can't handle a baby at the same time."  
"Meredith is a baby?"  
"Well, she IS three years old, but she still sucks her thumb and demands candy and cries."  
"Oh." Nakita shrugged. "No problem. I can handle little kids."  
"Okay." I opened the door with a key. Holding up the key, I said, "Their mother left me the key."  
Ulala was sitting on the couch, watching an episode of "The Fox and the Hound." She was half asleep. Meredith was crawling around the floor, sticking crayons in her mouth.  
"No, Mere." I said, pulling them out, and then carrying her over to the kitchen to wash her mouth out. "Bad, bad."  
Nakita looked around the living room. It was a mess! Crayons and coloring books lying around, along with plastic trains, pistols and knives. Nakita tidied up a bit, and then picked up one of the magazines nearby.  
"I wonder how old she is." Nakita said. "Yuki said she was eight, but kids her age don't read this." Nakita shrugged and put it down.  
I brought a shrieking Meredith into the room, waking Ulala up. Setting Meredith down, I said, "Okay." And handed her over to Nakita.  
"This is going to be quite a job." Nakita said. To Meredith, "Come here, sweetie." Meredith giggled and ran up the stairs. Nakita grunted and ran after her.  
Ulala giggled, and stepped off the couch. She ran to the kitchen and tried to pour herself a glass of orange juice out of the container, but knocked over both. While I cleaned up, she ran out of the room. After cleaning up the juice, I heard Nakita shriek.  
I ran to help.  
Nakita was in Gwen and Klein's room, the boy and girl twin. I titled my head in confusion.  
"I thought your mother was taking you to the fair." I hissed. Gwen shrugged.  
"We were grounded, so she took the rest of them and left us home." Gwen said. "She said you wouldn't mind." Out of the distance, the toilet flushed and there came the sound of girls laughing.  
"I'll stay." Nakita said. "You go." I rushed to the bathroom. The water in the tub was almost overflowing and the girls were splashing each other in it. I rushed in, picked Meredith out, wet clothes and all, picked Ulala out (they didn't weigh all that much) and then turned the water off and pulled the plug open. The water went down the drain. Meredith laughed and spun in circles. I caught her and forced her to stand still while I rubbed her semi-dry and called, "Nakita!" Nakita came running.  
"How are the twins?" I asked. She shook her head.  
"Hectic." She said. She looked at Meredith and Ulala. "They don't cause a lot of damage, but are sure annoying."  
"Take Meredith and get her changed, and I'll dry Ulala." I said, grabbing spare towels. "Ugh."  
Five minutes later, everyone was dry and in the kitchen, except for Klein and Gwen, who were playing loud music in their bedroom. I poured Ulala her glass of juice, but kept a napkin handy, making sure that she did not spill it. Meredith sank into a deep sleep, and Nakita volunteered to take her to the bedroom.  
"I would be more careful." I whispered. "She is as sneaky as an opossum, and plays asleep too." Nakita nodded, and walked up the stairs. Ulala demanded more juice. I sighed.  
The music had been turned down, a good sign that Nakita had talked to the twins. I gave Ulala another cup of juice, and when she finished that, I disposed the cup before she could ask for more. Ulala knew that when the cup was gone, there would be no more. I slung Ulala over my shoulder and ran up the stairs.  
"No!" Gwen was screaming, kicking her legs up and down on her bed. "I want my music." Nakita handed the disk to me. I shrugged and threw it into a cluster of other clothes and disks.  
"Do your homework." I grumbled, setting Ulala down. Ulala started to bounce in the pile of dirty clothes.  
"If we behave and do our homework, can we go to the park?" Klein asked, flipping a comb through his red hair. I nodded. "Sweet!" Klein jumped out of his bonk bed (the top bunk) and sat down in his desk, doing his history paper.  
"Did mom give you a list of homework?" Gwen asked. I searched in my pocket for all the things Mrs. Bennett had given me. I nodded. Gwen sighed. "She never forgets." Gwen plopped down beside Klein and started to do her history paper also.  
There was a series of wailing and banging. Meredith walked into the room shortly.  
"I'm bored." She announced. I exchanged looks with Nakita.  
"Well." Nakita said. "Let's fix you all something to eat." Nakita led the way down to the kitchen again. She fixed crackers and cheese for all of us (while I assisted to Ulala's constant demands for Orange Juice). While e ate, Nakita looked out the window.  
"What's wrong?" I asked.  
"No rain." Nakita said. "The crops are failing." I shrugged. Nakita was always concerned about everything. She added, "That means prices are going to soar."  
Ulala jumped off of her chair and ran to the window. She suddenly ran back. Nakita and I stared.  
Klein and Gwen ran down, and handed us their history papers. After skimming it quickly, I said, "Get your jackets." All four of them rushed off.  
Going to the park, Klein was telling Gwen about his baseball cards when it began to rain. Nakita was carrying Meredith.  
"It can't just rain in the middle of this!" Nakita cried. I gasped.  
"Two things." I whispered. "The sun is out and I'm sensing something." Nakita gasped.  
"Who?"  
"Ulala." Nakita put Meredith on the ground.  
"We have to go home." She said. "Since it's raining." Klein and Gwen groaned and started saying that they could play in the rain. "No, you will not catch cold, let's GO!" We followed Nakita. The whole way back, I was frowning.  
"What's wrong?" Nakita finally mouthed. I pointed to the sky, to the one cloud that was emitting the rain.  
"Clow Card." I mouthed back. Nakita groaned. I saw Ulala playing with something orange. Snatching it from her, I declared, "ULALA, What IS THIS?" Ulala held her head up as I gazed at the Orange Jewel. She tried to snatch it back.  
"Give that back!" She said. "Mind your own business."  
"Ulala, I'll trade you this for that." Nakita held up a bottle of wite-out. I sighed.  
"Tell me you can do better than that." I said.  
"Not now." Nakita said. To Ulala, "Please?"  
"Mother will make you give it back." Ulala whined. We were almost wet now from the rain. I just wanted to jump on my Fly Card and seal the card. Tucking the jewel safely into my pocket, I said, "We'll see if we should give it back." Ulala pouted and marched the way back home. Gwen and Klein ran up the steps, taking Meredith with them. Ulala stepped in the doorway and declared she wouldn't let us in until we had given her back her jewel.  
"Where did you get it?" I asked. Ulala frowned.  
"It's none of your business!" She whined, stamping her feet. "Just give it back!"  
"No." I held it away from her. The rain made us cold, wet, and in a case, hungry. "Ulala, let us in." I would have barged right in, but I wanted the information.  
"Okay." Ulala said. "There was this one girl named Mo, and she was walking home by our house, and she stopped to eat a sandwich on the sidewalk, and she was littering on her lawn, so I went up to her and she told me to go away and gave me the jewel."  
"Liar." I mumbled under my breath. "Well, is that all you remember?'  
"Yeah, now give it back." Ulala said. "C'mon!" Suddenly, I figure stopped down and a small knife was put up to Ulala's neck.  
"Hand over the Jewel." The masked figure said.  
"Never to you, Eriol." I said, even though I wasn't really sure it was Eriol. His hair didn't look very blond, but that was my best guess, and his voice was scratchy. Ulala started to cry.  
"Ulala, please tell me what happened." I said. Ulala whimpered.  
"The girl told me to go away, and I cursed at her, and said a lot of stuff, including something about the jewels she was wearing (I hit my forehead and sighed) and suddenly, she fainted and an Orange Jewel shot out into my hand."  
"And then what happened?" I asked. The masked figure didn't do anything, but listened attentively too.  
"I went back into the house, and sat down on my bed to puzzle over what happened." Ulala said, on the verge of tears. "Gwen and Klein went out to play, and discovered her dead!"  
"Dead of what?" Nakita asked.  
"Of a weak heart or something." Ulala said, crying. "There was a hole in a part of her body, and they buried her in that cemetery." Ulala pointed down the street. "Now will you please get this knife away from me?"  
I was shocked. I had taken care of Ulala since she was a little girl, and had never expected that she murdered someone. The masked figure seemed to have the same approach. Instead of demanding the jewel once more, he summoned a girl (she had brown hair and blue eyes, but I didn't recognize her, and supposed that she was wearing a facial mask.  
"Police." He said, handing Ulala over, and then shaking himself like a dog. The rain was drenching us. "Stupid rain card." The girl was dragging Ulala away, and Nakita was helpless to help.  
"Ooh, Key of Clow, Power of Magic, Power of Light, Surrender the Wand, the Force Ignite!" I took out my wand. "Fly." I flew up beside the little Rain Card, who followed me trying to get me wet.  
"I'm tired of you, Rain Card, Return to Your Power Confined!" I flew up and captured it. "Yes!" I returned to earth, and the police were arriving.  
"Well say to Mrs. Bowman that this one girl called the police to say that her little baby Ulala was charged for murder." Nakita said. I sighed.  
"It just doesn't sound very convincing."  
"Hey, who's talking?" Nakita said. "Hey!" The masked figure and girl disappeared. Ulala blurted out her story in tears.  
"She's going to ruin this for us." I whimpered.  
"Too late now." Nakita said. "We can't even memorize her."  
"Mrs. Bennett is NEVER going to let me baby-sit again." I said as I ran to the kitchen and dialed Mrs. Bennett's cell phone number.  
"Hello?" Mrs. Bennett's voice was tired.  
"Uh, Mrs. Bennett?" I asked.  
"Speaking."  
"The police are here." I said.  
"WHAT?"  
"Ulala says that she murdered someone and this girl on the street called the police to tell them and they are arresting her to take her to the police station." I said. "I'll meet you there, okay?"  
"I?" She asked sharply.  
"I'm going to leave Nakita to take care of Meredith and the twins." I said. "I'm really sorry this happened." Mrs. Bennett grunted.  
"Not your fault, and I'm going to UGH (Mrs. Bennett groaned), well, Ulala better be joking, but any way, this is not happening!" Mrs. Bennett sighed.  
"Err, I'll meet you in the station." I said. Mrs. Bennett acknowledged that.  
"What did she say?" Nakita asked.  
"She's meeting me at the St. Joes Police Station ASAP." I said. 'You're supposed to baby-sit the rest of the kids while I'm gone. Don't worry, you'll do fine and I'll fill you in. Just put Meredith to bed, and say that since Meredith is sleeping, you'll take the twins to the park after a couple games of scramble or something." I said quickly. The twins raced down the stairs and cluttered at the front door to watch the excitement. The police car honked.  
"Do the best you can, call Kanari if you have to, and Mrs. Bennett will probably be bringing the rest of the kids home first." I said, dashing out the door. "Bye and good luck Nakita!" Nakita waved as I ran into the car. Ulala was sniffing sadly, muttering,   
"I didn't mean to." I patted her on the back.  
"I know." I said. "It was an accident (although I really didn't think so. The police officer in the passenger seat cleared his throat). You'll be all right."  
"Will I go to jail?" She asked.  
"Will she?" I asked. The officer sighed.  
"I'll tell you when we arrive at the station." He said. We drove past the clinics and WALGREENS and Lowe's and kept on going until we arrived at the Police Department. I looked around with curiosity. I had never been here and everything looked so strange that I could not kept wishing that someone I knew was there also.  
The officer took Ulala into a small room to question her, while I waited in the lounge. Mrs. Bennett arrived soon after.  
Mrs. Bennett was a plump lady with reddish hair and small blue eyes. She didn't have any of the children with her, so I supposed that she had dropped them off earlier. Poor Nakita. I hoped she would be okay. I didn't know how Mrs. Bennett was able to handle so many children. Mrs. Bennett hardly looked human at the moment. Mrs. Bennett wasn't the type of calm and composed person, but she usually wasn't as frantic as she was now. Her red hair was out of place and her blue eyes were small and wild.  
"Ulala." Mrs. Bennett said, clinging to my arm. "Where is she?" I pointed to a small room down the hall. Mrs. Bennett rushed to it before I could stop her, and looked in the small window in the door. I sighed and paced the room. Then I remembered the Jewel.  
I fingered the edges of the Orange Jewel in my pocket. I thought it was a very good reward for a days work. Suddenly Mrs. Bennett started to sob.  
"Mrs. Bennett." I said, trying to help. She shook her head. "Go." She said. "I'll be home before five, and give you your pay. Please help Nakita take care of the other kids." She shooed me away before realizing that I couldn't drive the car. Mounting my Fly Card, I decided I would just saw I took the cab (there weren't many cabs in town, but I don't really think Mrs. Bennett would notice) home.  
I was intercepted on the way home by the masked figure, who demanded the Jewel. When I refused to give it, he started threatening. Suddenly, he grabbed a nearby girl (actually, this was his partner, but I was too shaken to realize that, and besides, her hair was now blond and she had blue eyes, which means she had changed into another wig and gotten different contacts) and held a knife up to her throat. I hated him more than ever but still refused. He attacked me without my wand, and my hand slipped. The Orange Jewel fell out, along with my velvet bag. He grabbed the Orange Jewel first, and I was able to snatch the velvet bag and take flight before he was able to do anything. Since the masked figure lacked the ability to fly, he could not pursue in the chase and I quickly flew back home with a sinking feeling in my stomach.  
Nakita was there, on the verge of screaming. All the kids had ruined the neatly tidied room.  
"Why didn't you call anyone?" I asked. Nakita sighed.  
"No one was home except for Doughboy who didn't want to come." Nakita said. "Even if you do get paid, he thinks baby-sitting is a waste of time." I scowled fiercely.  
"What does Doughboy know?" I said. "Geez!"  
"Yuki, we should tidy them up and leave ASAP." Nakita said. I nodded and then reported what had happened quickly.  
I found out who days later that Ulala would spend a total of twelve months in a rehabilitation center, since she was under age and ignorant. Ulala had told the police and her mother that she had cursed at this girl on the street who had a weak heart, and that Mo had fainted. She had decided to not get involved in this Jewel case, which I thought was a smooth move. The Police didn't believe her, that she actually murdered someone, but Mrs. Bennett insisted on having Ulala out of the house for a while. So we were still safe, although no one was quite happy that an eight-year-old had discovered the jewel first.  
But what could you do about it?  
The answer: nothing.  
The fact that remained was: there was still one jewel left, the Indigo Jewel.  
And please review before you read the next one.  



	10. Our Fierce Battle

CCS does not belong to me. To Elizabeth.  
  
Our Fierce Battle  
"Who?"  
"Are you sure?"  
"Yeah." Kanari pushed away a strand of golden hair. "Her name is Eliza, and she's in my math class."  
"Why didn't you sense anything earlier?" Nakita shifted and took a drink of water. They were sitting at lunch, discussing the fact that Kanari had sensed something new.  
"Wow, the last Jewel." Snowy said. "What is this, the, er, Indigo Jewel?"  
"Yeah." Doughboy said, and bit into his pizza hungrily. "The last one."  
"We still don't have all of them." Liz pointed out. "And even if we did, we don't know how to make it form one."  
"How does Eriol know all this stuff?" Kanari asked. She looked at Nakita for an answer, but Nakita was staring halfway across the lunchroom, to where Vash and Kelli were sitting. "Er, Nakita? Earth to Nakita."  
"I'd give you a penny for your thoughts." Doughboy dug out a penny. "Here." Nakita snapped out of her thoughts and took the penny, looking confused.  
"There must be an instruction book somewhere." Snowy said. "Ooh, we just need to get to the Fifth Dimension!"  
"There isn't a door!" Rene pointed out.  
"Maybe its in the Fourth Dimension." I pointed it out. "I mean, it makes a great deal of sense: The door from the second leads to the third and then to the fourth and the fourth leads to the fifth." Doughboy looked very doubtful. "I was only a suggestion." I said, sipping my milk. Doughboy crumpled up his napkin and tossed it towards the waste bin across the room. He missed and it bounced off the rim. Doughboy ran after it to pick it up. Snowy, who was also watching, shook her head in disapproval.  
"He's going to get a detention for it someday." She said, and returned to her eating.  
"Maybe." Rene said. "But let's focus. Only one more Jewel to go. I can't believe that Eriol is actually doing pretty well, considering the fact he's all by himself."  
"Bad guys always find ways to do their evil deeds." Snowy sighed and drank her orange juice. Doughboy returned to his seat.  
"So, is Kanari sure about this one?" I asked. Kanari nodded. I looked back at the others. "Well, why not?"  
"Can I actually believe this?" Doughboy blinked and opened his eyes wide. "Yuki is actually volunteering to do some Jewel capturing work?" I laughed, and nodded.  
"Yup." I said. "We've got to get this over with. Any ideas? The park is kind of getting old."  
"For real." Nakita said. "All of our captures have been there, or at Rene's house." Rene nodded.  
"Also, I've finished going through all of the costumes." Rene said, grinning. "Do you think you could all come over Tuesday to see them?"  
"Nope." Kanari sighed. "Sorry, but that's tomorrow, and I've promised Brittany I'd spend the evening helping her with her homework."  
"Good o' Kanari always keeps her promises." Nakita look her gaze off Vash and looked at Kanari. "Is Brittany really your sister, Kanari? Her name was posted on the Honor Roll as Brittany Bice."  
"Oh, did I forget to tell you?" Kanari giggled. "I'm an exchange student from Norway, and living with the Bice's."  
"Cool." Snowy said. "With Brittany and William Thomas, eh? How's his head?"  
"Who, William?" Kanari asked. Snowy nodded. "Pretty well. He's fully recovered, but still has minor headaches. I can't believe that old lady hit him."  
"Well, he should look both ways before crossing the street first." I said.  
"Yeah." Rene giggled. "I have to admit, it was kind of funny, now that you think of it. At the time it was horrifying." We all nodded in agreement, except Nakita, who had looked back at Vash.  
"Kanari, did you say you were from Norway?" Nakita asked. Kanari nodded. "No way, my grandmother lives there. I visit her every summer."  
"I don't believe I know her." Kanari said. "I certainly know your last name is Bowman, and I don't know any Mrs. Bowman."  
"She's on my mother's side." Nakita said. "Her name is Gliverd."  
"Gliverd." Doughboy repeated. "What an odd name." Snowy shrugged. The bell that marked the end of lunch period cut our conversation short.  
"I don't know." Kanari said. "There might have been a Mrs. Gliverd living near us, but it's a very slim chance, don't you agree?" She smiled giggled as she got up and followed the rest of us to the trash bin.  
"So, how about Wednesday?" Rene asked, dumping her plate into the nearest can.  
"I can't." I said. "E-Team."  
"Thursday?"  
"Uh, piano lesson."  
"Yuki!"  
"Well, I do. I'm a very busy person."  
"Well, what about Friday?" I shrugged.  
"Sounds good to me." Kanari and Nakita nodded. Snowy shrugged, and Doughboy said, "Cool." Liz said, "Okay."  
"Well, now that that's over with, could anyone tell us what we can do about, yuh, um." Doughboy put a finger on his many chins and looked up at the ceiling. "Er, Eliza, whatever his name was."  
"Um, Eliza is a GIRL." Liz said. "She sits beside me in Greek Mythology class." We all stared.  
"You take Greek Mythology?" Snowy asked, and her eyebrows rose. We were heading back to the classroom.  
"Yeah." Liz said. "That's my Friday elective." We all exchanged looks and shrugged.  
"What?" Eliza shirked back further towards the wall in the ally. "What Jewel?"  
"Don't tell me you don't know what I'm talking about." The guy said. "C'mon, hand it over." His aide tugged at his arm.  
"Maybe she really doesn't know." She said.  
"I don't play with these things." He said, brushing back a piece of pale blond hair. His sister waited impatiently.  
"Why don't you just try it then?" She asked. "I mean, we can certainly modify her memory. I've seen the fat kid do it to William Bice the Third."  
"You try it." He said. "I don't like spells."  
"Okay." She stepped in front of her. Eliza flattened herself against the wall and huddled in a ball. "Don't worry little girl." The evil girl tucked away a strand of long blue hair. "This will only hurt for a second. Okay. Master Mind Forward the Jewel!" With her arms in position, the Jewel shot out. Eliza whimpered, but stood up easily. She had not fainted. As the boy and girl team examined their first Jewel capture, Eliza decided to make a run for it. She sped down the ally towards the school.  
"Oh, I knew I shouldn't never taken this way." She said, running fast. But the girl took out something and said, "Memorization." The last thing Eliza remembered was darkness.  
When she woke up, all she remembered was know she had decided to go this way. Picking up her books and supplies, Eliza quickly ran home. She remembered none of it. Watching her from the roof of a nearby building, the boy congratulated his sister.  
"Great job Sis." He said. "You totally rock when it comes to malignant magic."  
"I wouldn't call it that." She said, walking to the edge of the roof and jumping down. Her brother landed next to her. "It's just magic. Some think of it as malignant, and others benign. I guess you can't classify magic."  
"Suppose." The boy looked at her straight in the eye with his light blue eyes. "Just suppose they've already sensed something, and the next day it's gone."  
"Doesn't matter." The girl said, holding her gaze, which was focused upon the deep blue eyes of herself, reflected by her brother. "They'll just think Eriol got her and try to question her." The boy looked at the Jewel.  
"Our first Jewel, the Indigo Jewel." He said. "What a treat." The girl nodded.  
"Mother would've been proud."  
"Ahh, Nakita!" Kanari skidded through the mobs of people in the hallway. Nakita, wait for me!" Her voice rose in a crescendo as she ran to keep up. She fell into the rhythm of Nakita's footsteps.  
"Hey, what's wrong?" Kanari asked, waiting sideways, tripping over her own feet, trying to keep up. "Nakita?"  
"Oh, nothing's wrong, nothing at all." Nakita replied cheerfully, at least this was as cheerful as possible. She wiped away her tears and sniffed. "I see you have news by your expression. What's up?" Kanari sighed.  
"I know this is probably the absolute last thing on your mind at the moment." Kanari paused. "But you see, someone has gotten the Indigo Jewel!"  
"WHAT?" Nakita stopped sniffing.  
"Yeah." Kanari said. "Today, I tried as hard as I could, but could sense NOTHING coming from her. Listen, Eriol has gotten to her."  
"Then we've absolutely got to see how much we can get out of her." Nakita said. She scoffed. "And you said I wouldn't care. Huh. Okay, emergency meeting after school."  
"But it's Thursday, and Yuki has a piano lesson." Kanari argued.  
"Not directly after school." Nakita said. "I've known her ever since elementary school, since the day she started piano. I should know." Kanari agreed and they ran as fast as they could down the hall.  
I was at my locker, putting my books away, and trying to cram the last of my winter jacket into my locker. "Hey!" I shouted down the hall, waving at Kanari and Nakita, frantically running my way.  
"Wait up!" Nakita called, and skidded to a stop beside me. Okay. So I stopped shoving my locker shut, and the jacket fell out.  
"Need some help with that?" Kanari asked, picking my jacket off the floor. She folded it up, crushed the air out of it, and then stuffed into a cubbyhole in my locker. "Presto." I slapped my forehead and groaned. "Don't worry." Kanari said, shrugging. "We all have those kind of days." I tried to straighten out my hair.  
"Sorry." I said. "Don't we have ensemble practice today?" Nakita slapped her head.  
"Oh, I totally forgot!" She said. "But don't worry, I'll be there in five minutes. I've got to call my mom. Why don't you explain things, Kanari?" Nakita shouted down the hall as she ran as fast as she could (backwards) towards the office pay phone.  
"And after the practice I have piano." I said. "Kanari, I told my mom you were giving me a ride, but actually I'm going to fly over there, so just pretend for me, all right?" Kanari nodded.  
"Listen, the Indigo Jewel I sensed yesterday has disappeared. Kanari said ("WHAT?" "Yeah.") "It's out of Eliza. We've got to question her." I looked down the deserted hall.  
"She's probably already home now, but oh well, we can do that tomorrow." I said. "UGH, I'm so busy today!" Kanari smiled.  
"Don't forget we have to meet at Rene's house tomorrow." She said. Nakita joined us as we walked to the band room.  
Our ensemble was a flute, clarinet, and oboe trio.  
"Kanari, remember to suck your reed!" The band director called as he walked out the door. Kanari glared at him, and popped the oboe reed into her mouth. We laughed.  
"I'm going to start at measure seventeen." Nakita said. She put her flute up to her mouth and began to play.  
"I've always liked the flute." I said to Kanari. "It's, like, so high, and hard to play, but it's pretty."  
"Yeah." Kanari played into her oboe, a very high pitch. I sat down next to Nakita. The pitch hurt my ears more than it hurt Nakita.  
Us three began to play in unison.  
**  
Vash ran around the building furiously, looking for his orchestra teacher. He played the cello, and had left his music on the stand at the end of class. It was a little late, but he had a test on it tomorrow! Vash dashed into the band room, and stopped abruptly.  
The three jewel girls, as Kelli called them, were practicing their ensemble. At the moment Vash had barged in, Nakita and Kanari had the melody, and Yuki was scribbling something on her sheet music. Kanari soon stopped and all eyes were on Nakita. Those long lashes that seemed to be a vast cloud of feathers lay above the gleaming brown pearl, and while she was playing and looking at her music gave her a contented look, as if she didn't have a single care in the whole world except playing her music. Vash sighed.  
Suddenly, Nakita stopped and looked up. She turned to Yuki and Kanari. "So?" She asked. "I know I missed an E flat, but otherwise I think I did pretty well."  
"Yeah." Kanari said. Yuki stretched. "It was good."  
"More, faster air." The band director said, hurrying to and fro in the band room. "Remember Nakita, don't rush!"  
"Yes sir." Nakita said, and searched for a pencil to mark her mistakes. Yuki handed her a pencil.  
"Vash?" The teacher asked. "How may I help you?"  
"I'm looking for the orchestra director." Vash said, squirming to the fact that all three girls had finally noticed him and were all pointing.  
"Ms. Sherry has gone home." The teacher said. "Can I help you otherwise?"  
"I left my-" Vash was cut off.  
"Sheet music?" The teacher handed a piece of paper to Vash. "I thought it might belong to you. "Stop losing things Vash, or you may lose yourself." Yuki and Kanari snickered.  
"I think I already have." Vash mumbled. He sighed again and started to walk out the door. Nakita leaned out of her chair to watch him.  
"Bye Vash." She said, softly, but loud enough for Vash to hear. Vash smiled, and turned around. "Bye Nakita." He said, and saluted her. She giggled and he marched out of the room.  
Yuki and Kanari exchanged looks.  
"I've got to go to my piano lesson." Yuki said, jumping up and down (though not necessary excitement from going to her piano lesson). "Listen real quick, we've got to meet soon. I have a feeling that there's more than one bad guy in this." With that, I rushed out the door, and flew towards my teacher's house.  
"What does she mean?" Nakita asked. "Of course we know there's more than one, including Colton and Ariel."  
"I don't think she meant that, exactly." Kanari said. "She means that there's more than Eriol, Ariel, and Colton." Nakita frowned. "I think we should trust her." Kanari gave Nakita a sad look. "After all, she is an Angel of Liberty."  
"So, I went and ordered another batch." Rene said, cutting open another big box with a razor knife. We were all at Rene's house again, gathered around a big box, while Rene cut it open.  
"But Rene, we haven't even used the ones you gave us just a little while ago." Liz complained in a nice way, or at least, tried to be nice.  
"I know, but you should carry them everywhere now." Rene said, reaching into the box, and trying very hard to hold out her balance. She was very short, and didn't want to risk another fall into the box, as last time. She pulled out something that looked like a cat's costume. "I think you would appreciate this the most, Yuki. It's 100% rubber."  
"Pink?" Doughboy asked, eyebrows raised in a laughing manner.  
"It's not pink, Doughboy, it's cyber-rose." Rene said, and pulled out some more material. "Snowy (Snowy covered her eyes), I got you a jester costume. Well (Rene reached farther into the box, and accidentally tilted the box over, causing the items to fall out) two, actually." She threw a green jester costume and a light blue one. "Oh, no, wait, the blue one is Nakita's." Snowy gave it to Nakita thankfully.  
"Hey, it's pretty." Nakita said. "Thank you Rene! It looks just like a skating outfit."  
"You skate, right?" Doughboy asked, as Rene handed him a tall black hat. Nakita nodded. "Rene's what's this for?"  
"Your hat." Rene said. "You won't use it often, because it'll probably fall off in the middle of a battle, but I thought it looked cute." Doughboy sighed. Rene handed Nakita a blue dress that matched with Kanari's yellow dress, the one Rene had given her last time. Rene handed Liz some shiny red shoes. "They match your costume, Liz."  
"Didn't you get anything for yourself?" I asked. "C'mon, Rene, you really don't have to do this."  
"It gives me pleasure." Rene said. "And besides, I want to be accepted as, well, one of you guys." Doughboy took off his hat.  
"Rene." I said. "You don't have to do all this just to be part of this. You know what you know, and we can't and wouldn't change that. Why else don't you think Doughboy hasn't modified your memory by now? You're part of our team, and not because of your costumes, all right?"  
"I guess." Rene looked down. "Sorry."  
"Don't be sorry." Nakita said. "It's supposed to be your welcome, because we're thanking you for all these." She elbowed Doughboy softly.  
"Yeah." Doughboy said. "Thank you Rene." Rene smiled. She pulled the last item out of the box.  
"It's a dress, an Alice in Wonderland dress, with matching blue shoes." Rene said. "I've already ordered a batch of shoes for you all, and it's too late to do anything about that, it arrives in three days, but I promise I won't get anymore."  
"You keep it." Liz said, meaning the costume.  
"Yeah." Kanari added. "It'll be your video taping costume." Rene's face broke up in a huge smile.  
"Thanks." She said. Nakita gave her a look. "I mean, you're welcome."  
"So, that's that." I said to Kanari over the phone.  
"I can't believe you talked to her. And she said nothing?"  
"I tried to lead the subject as close as I could without actually revealing it. If she knew anything, she would have chosen to tell me. I did talk to her for half an hour, you know. And I know Eliza fairly well, ever since fourth grade."  
"So, you think that." Kanari trailed off.  
"Yeah." I said. "Whoever it is this time memorized her too."  
  
Well, same for this one, review before going on please. 


	11. But Why Vash?

CCS does not belong to me.  
Enjoy!  
  
But Why Vash?  
"Nakita!" Vash ran down the hall Monday morning. "You left your books in class!" Nakita took her books from him.  
"Sorry." She said. Vash left. "He's such a nice kid, you know." Nakita said.  
"I don't know." I said.  
"What do you mean?" Nakita asked.  
"It's just, I don't trust him somehow."  
"Yuki, he's perfectly trustworthy!" Nakita said. I sighed. Why did I have this feeling? Vash was not to be trusted, and neither was his sister, Kelli. I had discussed it with Snowy, who said she had had some of what seemed to be the same instinct. So why were we the only ones who suspected Vash?  
"Earth to Yuki." Nakita said, waving her had in front of my face. "C'mon, we're going to be late to math class."  
"I don't really want to go." I mumbled.  
"Yuki, you are NOT going to skip class."  
"I've done it before, and all I've had to make up was a history quiz."  
"How many classes?"  
"Three."  
"THREE!!!!" Nakita stared in shock. "Well, well, what was your excuse?"  
"Math counts." I grumbled, and let Nakita drag me to math class. "And at the moment, math is the least thing I would want to do."  
"Just because it takes all that much thought doesn't mean you have to hate it." Nakita said. "You're usually better than me at math." I groaned and slipped into my desk as the bell ran. Nakita took a seat next to me. Kanari, Snowy, and Doughboy were already there. Kelli was there too, but Vash didn't have Mrs. Weeks.  
"And you do so bad in English." Nakita whispered.  
"Yeah, well, I actually like English." I said. "It's fun." Nakita gave up.  
"And this is the girl that used to try to convince me in Elementary school that math was a challenge." Nakita mumbled. The teacher walked up to her desk (which was littered with PEZ expensers) and sat down to assign us work.  
"All seven Jewels have been captured." Snowy said. "I mean, I'm just sitting here, waiting for something to happen now." I looked at Kelli. Luckily, she was sitting three rows away and eagerly bent over her work.  
"I know what you mean." Kanari whispered. "We haven't seen Eriol in a long time. It's like he disappeared or something."  
"Uh." Doughboy was giggling. "Have you guys checked the door yet?"  
"The Fourth Dimension?" I asked. "No, why?"  
"Oh, it's hilarious." Doughboy said. "I go there to check it every day. He slashes it, and then the next day it grows back. He's still here."  
The teacher then plunged into a speech about how we would go to Bridgestone Academy after finishing with Sabreda Grade School, since we were in the last grade already, otherwise eliminating any other forms of conversation.  
We met in the park in the afternoon, all of us: Kanari, Nakita, Doughboy, Rene, Liz, Snowy, and I. We talked over normal things for a while, until we couldn't stand it anymore. I took out the Jewels.  
There was Cap's Jewel, the red one, Nakita's Jewel, the Blue one, and Scarlet's Jewel. We knew tat Eriol had at least two, Kanari's yellow and Melvin's green Jewel. Someone or other had Ulala and Eliza's Jewel. I shivered at the thought and put the Jewels away.  
Suddenly, there was a sonic boom, and I felt thrown to my feet. WE all stood up, but our surroundings began to swirl. Instead of the usual green palm trees and lush grasses, I saw mist and fog. When it started to clear, I saw my friend. Tightening my velvet pouch containing the Jewels, I walked over to Snowy.  
"Let's all keep together." I said, leading her over to Nakita and Kanari. Liz and Doughboy found us moments later. Rene was found too. "What's going on?"  
We seemed to be moving, forwards, if not very fast. We seemed to be flying out of the fog, totally unaware of ourselves. At last, we arrived at our destination. It was a huge, white, marble building, looking a lot like the Lincoln Memorial, only MUCH nicer. It looked somewhat like the White House as well. We seemed to be standing on dirt, but as I looked the other way, away from the house, I saw nothing but the fog I could not endure once more to go back. No one spoke much but I'm sure we had the same feeling as we walked up the steps. But before we went in, we all shouted "release" (at least us Angels) and got out our weapons, just in case. Then we noticed that we were wearing the most peculiar costumes.  
Doughboy and Liz were wearing the robes that Rene had provided, and Doughboy his hat. I was wearing a pink dress, and so was Snowy. Rene had her new Alice in Wonderland dress on. Nakita and Kanari had their things on too, the simple dresses, and Nakita her skating dress.  
"Wonderful." Rene said. "It seeks to provide me with the things I once and all wish." We heard a swishing sound, and out from the mist, an object flew towards us. Rene caught it, and put the strap around her neck. It was her camera. "And also, this will be the first tape I ever have of this." Rene said. "Perfect. Are we going to go in anytime soon?"  
Snowy and I led the way, mumbling "Tweedledee and Tweedledum" as we made our way up the front stairs. We knocked, but no one replied, so we just tried the doorknob.  
It was unlocked.  
Inside, there was a foyer that lead to several doors. Snowy and I looked at each other, and then pointed to the door straight in front of us.  
"That one." We said.  
"Why?" Kanari asked softly, as if she would break something if she were louder.  
"That one has the most scent." I said. Kanari looked at me as if I were a dog. "Well, not like that. I mean, I can sense more from that door. The strange thing is (I frowned and looked at the other doors) I sense things from that door too." Nakita shivered.  
"Oh, why do doors have to be closed?" Nakita asked. "Okay, let's go." I pulled out the Sword Card and changed my wand. Liz and I ran up to the door, and then barged in, swords extended.  
There was no one in the room, except a white lady. She had blond hair, and blue eyes, and was very young. She was all covered in white, not as in a wedding gown, but as in a mist and a bright light, as in she wasn't real, but only an illusion.  
"What are you?" Snowy asked, walking into the room. The figure turned, and now you could see that she was only a little girl, no more than fifteen years old, but had seen the many horrors of the world already.  
"Angels?" She asked, tilting her head. "Where are the jewels?" And as soon as she spoke, you knew she was to be trusted. She walked over to a humongous prism, and I understood.  
"Oh, we have to put the Jewels back into the prism to help her escape. She must be in Queen Jewel's dungeon." The girl shook her head.  
"This hardly looks like a dungeon." Doughboy said, fingering the flowers on the walls. He looked at the girl. "Couldn't you explain?" The girl wearily sat down on the chair she had been sitting on when we came in, and opened her mouth.  
"We are not in the Fifth Dimension." She said. "We are basically Nowhere."  
"Nowhere?" Rene asked, still taping.  
"Must be." Doughboy said. "Nowhere must be a location."  
"Many years ago, my sister and I were playing. We are twins, you know. And then a big light flew our way and hit my sister. We've always stuck up for each other. So it's figured that she has turned into a large white Jewel that can change the world. She gave me powers too. (The girl pointed an index finger at the prism and made it slide closer to us.) but the darkness was still after her, us. We made up the light, the two of us. I am a Jewel."  
"So, let me get this right." Doughboy said. "You're saying they captured your sister, and when she had nowhere to go, she turned into a Jewel, and they accidentally injected her through the prism and turned her into little Jewels." Snowy winced as he said this.  
"Correct." The girl said. "My name is Marium K. Jewel, and my sister, well, we call her Jewel. We can only perform magical things when we are in our life forms (she pointed at herself) and when we commerce, we become even greater."  
"So when she had no where to run, she turned into a Jewel, and Marium wants her sister back now." Doughboy said. "But we don't have all the pieces."  
"Oh, for goodness's sake, Jewel is human!" Snowy said. "Would you stop saying pieces and splitting?" She shivered and sighed nervously. Nakita chafed her arm to keep warm.  
I walked up to Marium, took her hand, and opened the velvet bag. I poured the three jewels into her hand gently, and bowed then left, all done silently. She looked at the pieces sadly.  
"All you have?" She asked, pointing. I nodded and the rest of the group murmured. "Come." We walked after her, through another door. She moved the huge prism in front of her. We arrived in a huge room, probably once a ballroom. Marium gasped in surprise, and so did we.  
In the middle of the room, Eriol and Colton were standing, but on the other side, directly opposite, was, well, a HUGE surprise.  
Vash and Kelli.  
"Vash?" Nakita asked. She abutted on Kanari, and looked faint. Vash turned his head slowly in reorganization to her voice.  
"Nakita." He said. "What are you doing here?"  
"I would like to question this first." Marium said. "I don't see any passports." She said angrily. Eriol held up a yellow and green jewel, while Vash and Kelli both held up one Jewel apiece, an Orange and Indigo one. Nakita gasped, and sank into the ground.  
"Vash, no." She said, quietly. Doughboy patted her head.  
"Okay." Liz said. "I see now. Yuki, Snowy, I owe you an apology." Nakita looked at the ground.  
"Hey." Kanari said softly, bending down next to her. "We all make some form of mistake, once in a while." Nakita looked at Vash.  
Vash did not meet her gaze. Instead, he focused it on Marium, who had the three Jewels.  
"I have to do this." He said to himself. "No matter what Nakita or anyone says, it's my destiny. My destiny to take over this world." Out loud he said, "For Queen Jewel."  
Good old Vash. Kelli looked at him worriedly. I hope he doesn't hurt himself. We don't really stand a chance. "Anora, come out!!!" The door opened, and a squirrel -like animal walked in. It spread out its wings and flew over to Kelli. Waving its bush tail, it turned into a human figure.  
A very small dwarf. Red hair, pinkish skin, dressed in green, with big, pointed ears. Doughboy stared.  
"So, that's Anora, correct?" Doughboy asked.  
"Probably AN Anora." Rene said. "I'm getting some great shots."  
"Okay." Snowy said. "I'm taking charge. This is a three way battle for the Jewels."  
"Aren't they on the same team?" Liz asked, pointing to the two groups in the center of the ballroom.  
"No." Eriol said. "We both come from Queen Jewel's colonies, but are rivals." Colton nodded.  
"It's a LONG story." Colton said in his deep, growling voice.  
"Okay, then." Snowy said quietly so only we could hear. "Here goes: Liz and Doughboy, Yuki and I will charge at them and fight. Nakita and Kanari will guard Marium.  
"Count me out." Nakita said. "I feel as if I can't do ANYTHING."  
"Nakita!" Kanari said. "There's more to it than being stuck in a puddle. You can't drag others into it (I didn't think even Kanari knew what she was talking about)." Nakita looked up.  
"Okay, all right, I'll do it." Rene handed Nakita her pocketknife. She handed Kanari her razor.  
"Be careful." Rene said. "They're sharp."  
"Okay, we will." Kanari and Nakita took their positions in front of Marium, defending her.  
"Thanks." Marium said.  
The battle began. The little elf turned back into Anora, and lunged at us.  
Snowy hit it with her broom, and we charged at Kelli and Vash. Kelli jumped and extended a stick. Snowy and Kelli started to fight one on one. Doughboy started to shoot lasers at Eriol, through his eye.  
"Yes, he's found out how to control it." I heard Liz say. Then the laser hit the floor where it had missed Eriol, bounced off, ricocheted off the wall, and aimed for us. Liz held up her sword blade, so it bounced off again and hit Anora, who was lunging at us with an extended claw. Anora slid halfway across the room, and turned back into the elf. Vash rushed over to pick her up. "I guess not." Liz said, then started to fight with Colton. I approached Vash, and held out my sword an inch from his face.  
He frowned.  
"Don't you think you can beat me so easily." He said with a sheepish grin, and then turned his eyes on me. I shot back several feet, while he got out his weapon, some flying stars. I knew it had taken him a lot of effort to use his eyes to push me away. We fought one on one for what seemed like a century. I knew Doughboy, Liz, and Snowy were wearing out too. We needed help.  
I turned my sword back to a wand.  
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a small, tiny yellow thing approach. It was suddenly beside me.  
"Kero-chan!" I wanted to cry. Help had finally come. Kero, who had worked with Li and Sakura many years before, was in the shape of a stuffed teddy bear, with huge, rounded ears and a bushy lion's tail. He was yellow.  
"I have been woken." Kero said. "To help."  
Marium began to cry.  
"He sat on that plaque as still as stone for forty-five years." She cried. "As still as a stone! And I had to dust him, that was how alive he was!" She cried. Kero, who remember none of it, held out a hand (or arm, rather).  
"Ready?" He asked. "The Firey and the Earthy." I searched through my cards.  
"Yesh!" I said, lisping. "I do have the Earthy Card. Ariel didn't unleash that one after all! Ready Kero-chan?" Kero nodded. "Okay, er." I winced as I realize I didn't know how to transform him to his ultimate from, Cerberus.  
"Just say it." Kero said. "Upon the Power of Our Fiery and Earthy, I command you to turn Kero into the mightiest beast of all, Cerberus!" Kero recited. "You try it." I felt stupid.  
Throwing up the card, I twirled my wand, reciting, "Upon the Power of Our Fiery and Earthy, I command you to turn Kero into the mightiest beast of all, Cerberus!" I hit the cards. The light went from them into Kero, who transformed into the golden beast. Cerberus lunged himself at Colton, and they emerged in a wild battle. Snowy and Kelli were still fighting. Liz took on Eriol while Doughboy rushed over to help me with Vash. My hands were raw and my arms sore from battling, but I knew it had to be done.  
Finally, Doughboy's lasers managed to hit Vash, who collapsed. A cloud of dust rose. Kelli tried to get to her brother, but in the attempt, her distraction to their battle allowed Snowy to hit her on the head, and she too fainted. We ran to help Liz with Eriol. Pinning Eriol to the wall with the wood card, Liz took her sword and held it up to him.  
"Give the Jewels." She said. He threw them in the air. Snowy caught one; Nakita rushed to catch the other. "And now to the Fourth Dimension." She plunged the sword through him. Nakita screamed. Eriol disappeared. Then the Jewel in her hand began to glow.  
Marium gasped as her three jewels started to glow. Vash and Kelli's jewel glowed and all of the Jewels gathered in a circle in the middle of the room, hovering above all of us. The Jewels suddenly spun around, and turned into one large ring. The ring went through the prism, turned into a big Jewel, and then the lady Jewel appeared.  
She hooked arms with Marium and the two walked into a nearby mirror hanging on the wall. When they returned, they had merged into one: a young girl. She walked over, and suddenly I felt healed. Vash and Kelli got up from their penal positions on the floor.  
"We have failed." Vash said slowly. He sat up and looked at Jewel. "How did you become one? I thought you were two people?"  
"Two rainbows make one circle." Jewel said. "That's how."  
  
Please review. 


	12. An Explanation

CCS does not belong to me.  
Well, this is MOSTLY in Yuki's narrating, but some are not, and again, basically focused intensely on Vash (who has kinda been conplaining a little). Hope you enjoy it! I'm gonna write more. The next one's called Fairy Baptism!  
  
The Earthly Chronicles  
An Explanation  
Vash nodded, and scowled. Kelli looked sad. Jewel leaned down and picked Vash up as if he were made of feathers.  
"Little Vash, there's more to life than just obeying that queen of yours." Ms. Jewel said. "Much more. I know you aren't evil, and you just have to discover yourself within you. I know you aren't of the evil clan, Little Vash. Search for yourself. Search." And within those wise words, she set him down, touched his head, and he disappeared.  
Kelli rushed up to her. "Where is he, where's Vash?" Ms. Jewel shook her head.  
"He's searching for his life, his real life." Ms. Jewel said. "His destiny. And while he's doing that, does anyone care to assist me to the dining room?" We all followed her, realizing that we were hungrier than we expected. Anora followed too, and there wasn't much the two could do.  
Kelli didn't feel like doing anything, or plotting anything. Ms. Jewel had total control of Vash's whereabouts at the moment, and although Queen Jewel had taught about how evil Ms. Jewel was, she seemed very nice. At the same moment, Kelli was very hungry. She didn't listen to the conversation at the meal at all, instead, sank into one big, relaxing nap. Even though her enemies surrounded her, she seemed surprisingly comfortable.  
"Kelli has fallen asleep." I said. "Look."  
"Yeah." Snowy said. "Hey, what happened to Colton?"  
"What?" Liz asked.  
"Colton, what do you mean?" Doughboy asked.  
"Ahh, we forgot about Colton!" I whined. "After we sent Eriol to the fourth Dimension, we didn't really pay any attention to what became of Colton, he just disappeared!"  
"Hush, Yuki, you'll wake Kelli." Doughboy hissed from across the table, with a mouthful of bread and strawberry, blackberry, raspberry, blueberry jam and a piece of garlic bread.  
"Ew." Rene said, pointing her camera at Doughboy. "Are you trying to set a record or what?"  
"What record?" Doughboy said. "Ah, Ahh, ah *~sniff* Ahh CCHOOOOOO!" Luckily he had held up a napkin in front of his face.  
All of the bread and jam and snot came flying out at once. Snowy got up and left the room, Liz following her example. Nakita made a face, shook her head, and tried not to look. Kanari grabbed her mouth, trying not to vomit, and ducked under the table. I grimaced.  
"Smooth, Doughboy, real smooth." I said, and tried not to look also. Doughboy was on the verge of tears.  
"It wasn't my fault." He wined.  
"Technically, it was, I mean, if you hadn't eaten all that jam and bread and well, minded your manners, and also, well, then maybe this would have never happened." Nakita said without looking up. Doughboy burst into big baby tears that welled up to the size of golf balls and then rolled down his cheeks. "Have you cleaned the snot off yet?" Doughboy nodded.  
"Yes, he has." I answered for her. Nakita looked up. Kanari gulped a fresh breath of air.  
"I'm going to call the others in." She said. Rene laughed  
"And I've got this all on tape!" She squealed. "How great is THAT?"  
We were quiet for the rest of dinner, or whatever meal it was, because all we could see out of the window was mist, so we couldn't tell what time of the day it was. Ms. Jewel tried to comfort Doughboy, who left the room.  
"You have to admit, that was pretty funny." Rene said, watching the whole incident happen again in her camcorder.  
"Uh-huh." Liz said. "Poor Doughboy."  
We went back to the ballroom to search for Colton, but he was gone. Just plain gone.  
"Ms. Jewel, where else could he go from here?" Snowy asked. Ms. Jewel shrugged.  
"Out there (she pointed towards the mist) there is a hole that leads back to your world." She said. "My greatest guess is that he flew to that hold, and dropped down to your world."  
"Probably to get to the Fourth Dimension." Kanari said. "Tell me, Ms. Jewel, is this the Fifth Dimension?"  
"No." Ms. Jewel said. "Although you will see it soon enough. I have told you before, this is Nothing."  
"Why don't we chase after Colton right now?" Kanari asked.  
"Because we must wait for Vash to get back from his destiny, whatever it may be."  
"You don't know?" Nakita asked.  
"I don't have the power to where I send people to Find Out." Ms. Jewel said. "That is their power, where they send themselves, what the Powers of Light want him to know. The Powers of Darkness will try their best to stop him."  
"Good luck Vash." Nakita said.  
"I know, why don't we send Kero to him?" I suggested. Ms. Jewel nodded.  
"He could be lonely."  
"He's been gone some time now." Kanari said. "I hope he's all right."  
"Don't worry." Ms. Jewel said. "They take good care of people in where I've sent him."  
"Where HAVE you sent him?" I asked.  
"That information is classified." Ms. Jewel said. "You can't know, and I don't even know (although I've always suspected she lied about this). Kero, are you ready?"  
"Ready for what?" Kero asked, flying out of the dining room. "I've got to admit, Ms. Jewel, that Strawberry Pie, those Lemon Sundaes, and that Chocolate Cake was delicious. So were your cookies."  
"You ate them all?" I asked, dashing back into the dining room. "Ah, KERO!!!!! You've emptied the whole room of food. When we left there were plenty of leftovers, and desert. Kero, you ate the whole desert! How could you, desert hasn't even started yet, and we haven't had any!" I looked from the empty plates back to Kero, who was looking smug.  
"KKKEEERRROOOO!" Kero winced and held his hands to his head.  
"I'm sorry." He said.  
"I see you are going to be great companions." Ms. Jewel laughed. "From now on, you are partners." She tapped us both on the head with a wand. "You were supposed to be united long ago, but there was a misfortune." Ms. Jewel looked away.  
"I was separated." She said. "But anyways, this wand, is, well, special, and I will explain later." She smiled. "Kero, its time for you to join Vash."  
"Vash?" Kero asked. "No way!"  
"You'll see." Ms. Jewel tapped Kero lightly on the head again. "Go Kero, be of help, be of courage, BE." Kero disappeared. Rene smiled.  
"Perfect shot." She said.  
"Of information." I said to Ms. Jewel's last be. "Kero can sure help us, I mean, with his size and all." Ms. Jewel smiled.  
"Let's await their arrival." She said. "Anyone want more cake? I baked more in the oven."  
Darkness. That was all Vash could see. Why had Ms. Jewel put him in such a place? How could he learn by this? There was seemingly no difference anywhere but a vast darkness. Pure evil darkness.  
Then from far away, there came a light, like at the end of a tunnel. He squinted. It came closer and closer, cutting apart the darkness. When Vash could see again, he saw that he was in a room with a crying baby in a cradle. Vash felt terribly alone. How he longed to see a familiar face. He felt very vulnerable.  
The door opened. Queen Jewel stepped into the dark room, followed by her son Galdius. Vash remembered. Both Kelli and himself had been adopted as Queen Jewel's sons, but Galdius was her real son. Both took no notice of Vash but walked over to the cradle.  
Galdius slapped the baby all but gently on the back. All the same, Vash felt a tingle go up his back. Galdius had done that to him all the time. Only five years older than Vash, Galdius was supposed to be Queen Jewel's heir. But was this really Galdius? He looked so young, no more than eight. Unmistakably, his father's ring was on his finger, so this must be Galdius. Vash was sure of Queen Jewel. She appeared no different in time. Galdius shushed the boy in the cradle, whom Vash could see was at least three.  
"Hush, Vash, shush." Galdius said. Vash gasped. Could it be? The boy was he? What exactly had Ms. Jewel had in mind? Find himself? Was he supposed to change the past? He needed help, and quick! Oh, how he longed for advice from Kelli, his birth sister.  
A little girl appeared at the door. She seemed around six, but there was no mistaking the blue hair and pigtails. Vash looked on.  
Kelli walked over to the cradle and picked Little Vash up. She set him on the ground, and he reached for her hand protectively.  
Vash frowned. Was he really in the past, or was this a mere illusion? He did not know, but cared greatly. Oh, if only Ms. Jewel would send somebody over!  
Galdius frowned, and spread his little sings out. "Let's go play." It sounded more of an order than an offer. Queen Jewel was holding a huge sector. On the top there was a huge, glowing ball, surrounded with three claws. Vash recognized it immediately as The Globmess. He shivered. Queen Jewel took the bottom of the sector and nudged Vash.  
"Go." She said. Kelli quickly put Vash in front of her and left. Queen Jewel sank into a nearby chair. Vash walked over to pick up the sector, but his fingers went through it.  
"An Illusion." Vash whispered. The dim light was starting to disappear and again was he surrounded by ever threatening darkness. He heard the flapping of wings and spun around.  
Kero Berus, or Kero-chan, the girls called him.  
"Are you real?" Vash asked. Kero laughed.  
"What is real? Out of the whole Illusion, it is just you and me who are." Kero said. "Ms. Jewel sent me to help on second thought."  
"Thanks Ms. Jewel." Vash said.  
"No, thank Yuki, it was her idea." Kero said. "And she is now my new master."  
"So what's the purpose of being here?" Vash asked. Most of the darkness had already disappeared.  
"You'll find out in a minute." Kero said. "We must be quick. The girls are disturbed, and Kelli is in distress."  
"I see." Another scene materialized in front of Vash. He could see Little Vash, now eight, slaving for Queen Jewel, Kelli by his side, helping him. "Good Kelli." Vash whispered, more to himself than Kero. Galdius, now thirteen, with a whip, followed little Vash.  
"Was he always like this?" Kero asked, pointing at Galdius. Vash nodded.  
"Now that he's seventeen, he's even worse. Everyone except family calls him Prince Galdius." Vash winced. He looked at his hands. "This is the nicest my hands have ever looked." Kero looked confused. Vash pointed to Little Vash, who held out a hand. Galdius brought the whip across it. Vash winced, but Little Vash seemed utterly painless.  
"If you winced or cried, you were whipped more." Vash said. "Oh, Prince Galdius, what power you had!"  
"How do Ariel and Eriol fit into this?" Kero asked. Obviously they had explained quite a bit to him before he came.  
"They don't." Vash said. "There are only so many family members. Like Queen Jewel says, it appears they wandered over from the Fourth Dimension, and were made slaves, but were highly trusted."  
"And this is Planet…" Kero asked.  
"42385, Urianiel, known for it's endless supply of uranium, also known as Uri for short." Vash said. 'Oh, this may look grand to you, Kero Berus, but you should just take a look at the slave headquarters and miner's ports." Kero nodded ("thanks for your suggestion, don't mind if I do, later, that is.") "I wish I could take you, but it's only on the other side of the planet."  
"How big is Uri anyways?" Kero asked.  
"Oh, 234,858.56 miles at the equator." Vash answered. "I had private tutors in school. It's very small, only about the size of one of your moons."  
"Uh, Vash? We only have one." Kero pointed out. "But that's okay. Let's go." Kero started to fly (till this time he had been leaning on Vash's shoulder). "As long as we don't run through people, no one will notice us."  
"Go through people?" Kero nodded.  
"They won't see us but will sense it in their bodies and set off the alarm." Kero said. They entered the building, heading towards the Queen's dome. Vash was sorry to leaved little Vash.  
"Will it change the past then?" Vash asked. "I mean, this is an Illusion." Kero shrugged.  
"How should I know, Ms. Jewel is the one who created it."  
Queen Jewel was watching her miners dig for gold and uranium and was talking over funds with Lumbeus, her oldest son, who, at that time, at the time of the Illusion, was forty-three. Lumbeus, however, was adopted, so he would always be prince and never king.  
The subject suddenly swerved.  
"I've never seen better fighters." Lumbeus said. "Galdius is good, better than most knights his age, but Vash and Kelli? (Lumbeus made a strange noise through his nose.) I was twenty-two when I could manage Kelli's stunts and tricks. As for Vash, well, he's almost as good as Galdius, five years older than he!" Lumbeus stroked his pet lizard, and added to his lizard quietly, "It's a wonder Galdius is still alive."  
"Of course." Queen Jewel said, not meaning his last sentence. "We have the best for those, because one day, they will arrive on Planet Earth, and out of us, are the most to succeed with earthlings!"  
"This was before Ariel, Eriol, and Colton were trusted." Vash whispered. Kero nodded in acknowledgement.  
There were several more Illusions, all about how Queen Jewel had plotted to take advantage of Vash and Kelli, then to "plunge a sword through their very hearts."  
At the end, Vash collapsed on his knees, in the darkness.  
"And I thought we worked together, were one." Vash said. "All those evil things I've used my magic on."  
"Not as bad as Galdius." Kero said.  
"But I would have become." Vash said, betting up, clenching his fist. "Queen Jewel needs to be taught a lesson! She might have raised me, but for what purpose, need?"  
Kero was quiet.  
The darkness was approaching.  
  
Thirst. Thirst. Vash needed water, or something to quench his thirst. He moaned and rolled over. A hand stopped him, and a refreshing liquid the humans called water met his lips. Vash opened his eyes.  
Kelli was there, along with Yuki, Kero, and Kanari. Kelli was using a straw to give him the much needed water.  
"When you came back you passed out." Kero said disapprovingly. "Sir Vash, you are supposed to be a warrior." Vash sat up in his bed and held his head.  
"Where is everyone?" He asked.  
"In the ballroom, tending to Anora, trying to figure out a plan." Kanari said. "Nakita wishes not to see you."  
The old Vash would have shrugged. This Vash asked, "Why?" Yuki groaned.  
"Never mind." Yuki said. "Whatever it is, it's not important." Kelli slipped her hand over Vash's.  
"Kero told us all the story." She said softly. "We're going back to Earth, after a few adjustments, and then to rescue the slaves from Queen Jewel, and Galdius."  
  
Please review. 


	13. Fairy Baptism

CCS does not belong to me.  
No!!! C'mon, I know six is a little too much at a time, and that most of you are at the anime convention this weekend, but REVIEW, please, when you get back, and review each chatper separately (or else I will have to post it one at a time FOR you to review). It's VERY simple. You read and review and I'll write more. Okiedokie! ~Yuki  
  
Fairy Baptism  
Ms. Jewel gathered us in the ballroom once again to make an announcement.  
She gathered us all in the room, and by her face, we knew to stay quiet and listen. Whatever she had to tell us, she had to tell it to us NOW. She closed her eyes, thinking if she was ready for whatever it was. And as far as I could see, she was glowing a blue light, and I suddenly knew she was recharging herself for whatever was ahead.  
"Okay." Ms. Jewel spoke. It was a quiet, delicate, but important tone. "We have all gathered here, for one reason, one VERY important reason." She paused and took the time to look at each of us individually. "Every important." She looked as if she was shaking. I bet she was more nervous than I would be when I took the SAT, but I was scared too, not knowing what would happen to me. Ms. Jewel summoned Kelli up first. Kelli, shakily, walked up to Ms. Jewel.  
"There is not much t say to you, child." Ms. Jewel began. "You have truly learned your purpose in life today, and that is not to catch and to use me, but to free all those Queen Jewel has captured and return them to a better place. You already have your magical powers, so this is all I grant you." She lifted the magical wand she had used earlier, and POOF, Kelli had on a darkish blue dress with gold lining. Rene stifled a gasp. I knew what she was thinking. I had seen that before; it was one of the dresses Rene had brought in one of the two big boxes. Ms. Jewel smiled.  
"Yes, Rene, your assumption is correct." She said. She held out her hand, and Kelli backed away. Vash walked up in her place. "Vash, Vash." Ms. Jewel said. "You've experienced a lot for a little boy, and even though I can't grant you much, you will have a costume like Kelli's (and suddenly Vash had a red jacket and black pants on. He straightened his glasses and tried to appear intelligent. He would have sure fooled me, looking just like a mad scientist professor and all too serious for Vash.) and you will have more powers than you have had before." She touched the wand to the top of his head. "Don't use them just yet." Vash retreated, and Kanari walked up.  
"Yet, the first of them all." Ms. Jewel said. "The first of the Jewel Bearers. Yuki, can you take pressure?" I didn't know what she meant, and looked around for help, but they all shrugged.  
"I guess." I said, walking up to her. She touched the top of my head with the wand, and suddenly my vision was blocking out and I felt myself glowing radiant blue. So this is how it felt. Too bad we couldn't have better visualization. I shrugged, and felt Ms. Jewel controlling me. She made me face Kanari, and they put my hand on Kanari's forehead. Words came pouring out of my mouth, something that did not sound at all like English. Kanari was glowing too, and after a while, we both stopped and I could see ever so better again.  
"You have powers." Ms. Jewel said. "But not weapons. We will deal with that later, in the other room. Kanari, your power is with you, since Yuki has named you, and you are now a true Jewel Bearer, and will help them in their journey to free the slaves. An Angel of Liberty has granted you powers, and I will supply the weapons later. Nakita?" For Kanari was already backing down and Nakita walking up. Ms. Jewel looked at her and smiled.  
Nakita looked down, not meeting her gaze.  
"You have nothing to be ashamed of, Nakita." Ms. Jewel said, brushing Nakita's hair out of her eyes and tilting her head to look at Ms. Jewel. "You too will be granted. Yuki?" I walked forward. Ms. Jewel smiled again. "We must be wearing you out." She did the same thing to Nakita as Kanari. The same process seemed to suck away my energy, but not power. Nakita looked at her hands after she was done, thanked Ms. Jewel, and backed up. Ms. Jewel looked around. She summoned Doughboy up.  
"My little boy, you have many powers, and you will soon learn how to use them, but now is not the time." Ms. Jewel said. "If we have enough time, I will teach you."  
"What do you mean if you have enough time?" Doughboy asked.  
"Time is scarce." Ms. Jewel said. "In a matter of time, I will turn back to my jewel self and Yuki will hold me in the pouch for safekeeping if I am ever needed again. Well, actually, she will hold my jewel self in her pouch, but my real soul will be wandering, and moving all the time. I'd like you to know that when I disappear, a part of me will always be in you." Doughboy nodded, confusion etched on his face. "But first, I will need to get this done with, and explain where to go and supply the jewel bearers weapons. Doughboy, I grant you peace." A touch of wand on the head. Liz stepped up next to Doughboy as he retreated.  
"Liz, there is nothing for me to grant you exactly, but the powers of quickness, smartness, and reflexes." Ms. Jewel said. "You do know that it was your quick thinking that saved us many lives of those of your comrades. So I grant you too." Ms. Jewel touched another forehead with the wand.  
Snowy stepped up.  
Ms. Jewel summoned Rene up too.  
"Snowy, give Rene your earrings and broomstick brooch." Snowy, confused, reluctantly gave Rene her weapons. Ms. Jewel walked up to Rene. "Rene, I grant you these weapons and the powers of justice." Ms. Jewel tapped Rene on the forehead. "Do not think that you have no powers and are just in here to tape this and to supply costumes. No, you are a fighter too, and as much as you hate it, you WILL fight to keep the justice in balance." Ms. Jewel sighed. "Take them. And Snowy (Rene backed up) I grant you my wand." Snowy gasped. Ms. Jewel used the wand to summon up a heavy book lying on a nearby table, and said, "Confined." The book shrank to the size of a computer mouse. "Snowy, say Release when you want to read it and Confined when you don't. This wand is very useful, and the book is a spell book, so you know how to use the wand by applying spells.  
"This wand was once a lovely white jewel, my mother, but when they fought over her, it fell on the marble floor and broke. Shattered, it immediately began to reconfigure itself and turned into this wand." Ms. Jewel fingered the side of the wand, which (except for the handle part where you were supposed to hold it when you used it) was very sharp and jagged, like unlined pebbles in a field, only not as soft or round and pebbles. "Take it and treat it well." Ms. Jewel handed it to her and turned to me.  
"Last of all." I walked up.  
"Yuki, I give you my blessings, may you take good care, and I grant you the powers to control over every card you captured. I also grant you a globe, which will tell you things that could happen in the future, which we will get shortly."  
"Is it really a globe?" I asked.  
"Not really." Ms. Jewel said. "It's one of those domes where you pick it up, turn it up-side-down, and it snows. But this one doesn't, and when you do, it wakes up and can talk to you. I believe it will be great help to you." She smiled. "Yes, and good luck. I know you will pass the test of a worthy cardcaptor, and be careful when using the element cards." I nodded, and stepped away.  
Ms. Jewel summoned Nakita, Kanari, Snowy, Rene, and I to step forward. As we did, we all joined hands and began to glow.  
"All of you will be granted wings." Ms. Jewel said softly. "You shall have to power whether you want to use them or not." Kanari started the formation first. Her bird-like wings started to sprout, and she looked like she had sprouted canary wings. She left the circle to fly around the ballroom. Nakita's wings were bright, and a soft, light blue color. They did not look very much like bird's wings. Sure, they had feathers, but were so soft that they did not look capable of holding her up, but as she flew, she seemed to make it up. Her winds were much lighter than Kanari's. It was also a tiny bit smaller; plus she didn't have as many feathers. Snowy and I both started to sprout angel wings. They were mainly white, but mine had a tint of violet and hers pink. They looked bigger and spread over a wider range than the jewel bearers. We flew high into the room, and we knew that we would be able to fly the longest and be lest tired. Rene's wings were small, and red, like the Firey Card's wings.  
"Rene, you will use the broomstick more than your wings." Ms. Jewel said. "Because you will find that more useful."  
So there we were, all five of us with wings, flying around the room.  
Ms. Jewel said, "I believe you have wings, Kelli?" And Kelli sprouted her wings out of her back, her dark blue butterfly wings that seemed to bounce. Kero flew over to her, and compared his tiny wings to hers. I smiled and landed softly.  
Ms. Jewel sighed, and it was a sad and refreshing sigh.  
"Well, you are all done now." She said softly. "Come, Kanari, Nakita. We must pick the weapons." I held my globe quietly, and looked at the others. Liz was twirling her sword around, wondering if it was really faster and sharper. Snowy had sat down in a stone chair and began to flip through the book. Rene was flying around the room, both wings and broomstick at the same time, but not daring to try her Power Hoops or Golden Rings attacks.  
"Avido!" Snowy held out her wand, and ribbons of many colors sprung out, and danced around. She laughed when the ribbons wrapped themselves around Rene and forced her down to the ground. Liz sliced one of the ribbons, freeing Rene. Doughboy grunted.  
Meanwhile, Ms. Jewel had let Nakita and Kanari in a room.  
"I don't know what to give you." Ms. Jewel said. "And there isn't really much of a choice." She went to a desk, and looked at the ornaments under the glass. "What I give you must be of great use. But you already have a swordsmen, cardcaptor, magician, laser worker (Rene and her earrings), a fortune teller (Doughboy and the globe), and Vash and Kelli, whatever they do." Ms. Jewel said more to herself than Nakita and Kanari. "I don't know much about them." She paused when she had walked the room four times and stopped in front of a door.  
"How would you like a monster?" She asked.  
"A monster!" Nakita exclaimed. "Why on earth would we want that?"  
"Like Kero-chan." Ms. Jewel said. "I've got a lot of little beasts, but I suppose they won't be much use of to you." She looked at them. "Would any of you want one?" Nakita nodded.  
"If you don't mind, Ms. Jewel, I would." Nakita said. Kanari shook her head. Ms. Jewel opened the door with a key and walked in. The two girls followed closely behind.  
It looked like a greenhouse recreation of the rainforest, and Nakita immediately fell in love with a brown creature with green leaves coming out of his head. Kanari jumped back form it.  
"This is the only real monster I have." Ms. Jewel said. "The rest are just ordinary creatures form earth." Ms. Jewel looked around, and added. "Oh, and from other planets too. That one is the one I rescued from Uri when I was a little girl." Nakita nodded. The little beast was shaped slightly like a hamster, only not nearly as fat, and had beautiful green eyes that matched the color of its leaves. Nakita picked it up, and it squealed happily, squiggling to get away. Ms. Jewel laughed, and said, "This is your new master. Nakita, what would you like to name her?" Nakita frowned and couldn't decide.  
"You can decide later." Kanari said. "Time is scarce." Ms. Jewel walked out of the room, and Kanari quickly followed. Nakita closed the door behind them, holding her little pet.  
"Kanari." Ms. Jewel held up a round ball, like the ones one would hang on a Christmas tree, only more decorated. "You shall have the power of the sun, and will be able to blind your opponents." Ms. Jewel smiled. "An awfully useful trinket. I have one for Nakita too." She held up in her other hand a set of three golden bells. "I cannot tell you what they do, for you must discover that yourself." Ms. Jewel smiled. "Surely Yuki and Snowy will help you, though." She handed them their new weapons and they walked out of the room with her.  
"Attention." Ms. Jewel said, and everyone hurried over. "Okay, this is what we shall do when I suddenly turn into a jewel. I will be broken down into pieces and into each of you to keep the magic in order, but Yuki will keep the body of the jewel. Once Queen Jewel finds out about Eriol and Ariel, she will probably send more people, but that always takes some time, so it is very necessary that you stop Colton from reaching her at all costs."  
"Is the Fifth Dimension in the Fourth?" Snowy asked. Ms. Jewel nodded  
"Good." Doughboy said. "Colton will try his best, but he won't get past that door."  
"I wouldn't be so sure." Ms. Jewel said. "And anyway, after I go, you will fly due straight into the mist until you see a tree. As soon as you are pretty near the tree, you descend and once again, the sonic boom will appear. You can go to and from Earth and Nothing, but there isn't much to do in my mansion, and I doubt you will ever find it again. You will be in the park."  
"And time?" Rene asked nervously.  
"Time will have only passed quarter of an hour." Ms. Jewel said. "The time line is slower on earth than it is on most planets and solar systems."  
"And Nothings." Kanari added. "Shouldn't we call it something since we know there is something?" She asked.  
I shook my head. "It's not good to mess around with these things." I said. "And besides, I have a feeling that this building will disappear once we go." They all shrugged. We were going to miss Ms. Jewel.  
We left the ballroom (all but Doughboy, who started his lessons with Ms. Jewel) and Kero went to eat the last of the chocolate cake. No one had much of an appetite, but we certainly loved exploring the grand house. As we walked back to the ballroom, the walls of the mansion began to swirl and start to evaporate before our eyes.  
"Quick!" I called, running towards the ballroom. It was almost too late. Kero flew beside us to keep up. When we reached the ballroom, Ms. Jewel was already a jewel in the air, and dropping. The floor had already evaporated, and all was left was mist. My wings began to spring out as there was nothing to step on, and I caught the jewel and safely tucked it in my pouch.  
Doughboy was sitting on Rene's broomstick, resting. He soon summoned his bubble and resumed to the air. I looked at the remains of the now evaporation mansion, and noted which direction to go. I assumed that it just appeared and evaporated anywhere at anytime it felt like it. Kero came to stand next to me.  
Rene was on her broomstick also, but her wings were sprouted too. Nakita and Kanari both had their wings out, and their trinkets in their hair. Nakita was holding the beast Cherry, as she had been named.  
Kelli was flying, trying to hold up Vash, whom she was now supporting. Rene saw this and quickly flew over, letting Vash sit on the broomstick. Snowy was in the air too. Anora was on Kelli's shoulder. I looked around quickly for Liz, but didn't see her.  
"Ahh, where's Liz?" I asked frantically. Snowy flew up beside me, holding Liz by her arm.  
"Yuki, help me." Snowy said. "I've been carrying her around, but you haven't noticed, and she's heavy." I look Liz's other hand, and she sat on Rene's broomstick too.  
"We aren't going to fit." I said. "Oh Key of Clow, Power of Magic, Power of Light, Surrender the Wand, the Force Ignite. Release! Fly!" My broomstick came out, and Liz conveyed herself onto it. I sat down.  
"Okay, now that we're all ready, let's go." Kanari said. She took the lead, along with Snowy. Rene and I (with Vash and Liz on our broomsticks) followed. Kelli flew along beside Vash with Anora on her shoulder, and Kero sat on mine. Nakita, still holding Cherry in her arms as tightly as if she were made out of china, flew alongside me, and Doughboy brought up the rear, because his bubble couldn't move any faster.  
Kanari spotted the tree first.  
"There it is, there it is." She said, flying towards it. "Hurry up!"  
"We ARE hurrying." Doughboy snapped. "Some of us can't move any faster." He looked at his bubble, which has limited visibility also.  
"Yeah." I said. "C'mon Kanari, give us a break, the weapons don't fly as fast as the wings do." Kanari folded her arms, and scowled. By now we were close enough to the tree. Kanari looked down.  
"I don't see anything but mist." She said. "How are we supposed to go down?" Snowy folded her wings tightly around herself.  
"Like this." She said, dropping down. We heard a small sonic boom.  
"Well, I trust her." Rene said. Sprouting her wings, she hung tightly on Vash and dropped. They both disappeared.  
"And I trust Ms. Jewel." I said, patting my pocket. The wings off my wand disappeared, and (with my wings sprouted and hanging onto Liz) I dropped too.  
I was falling at about the speed of sound (which is about 331/m, folks) and suddenly: there was a boom. I landed on the soft grass of the park and rolled over.  
Snowy smiled. Her wings had already disappeared, and so had Rene's. I watched mine evaporate over my shoulder.  
"You know, I kind of like this disappearing and reappearing business." I said, moving out of the way. Nakita and Cherry came down a second later, followed by Kero, Kelli and Anora, and Kanari.  
"Ahh!" Doughboy fell on his bottom. "Ow, ow, OW!" He yelped. An old lady walking by looked at him. Luckily everyone had had his or her wings evaporated before then. We waved at the lady.  
"Look." Rene said, pointing at the sky. All I could see was the blue sky and a few clouds. "There lies the threshold to Nothing."  



	14. A New Beginning

This might be my last "focus with the plot factor" chapter, because I've pretty much lost the feeling to write adventurous and dangerous and all at the same time humurous stories, because some people (just two in peculiar) are being so mean to me, so I'm gonna pick on them, but this chapter was alreayd written before today, so that will be the next chapter, and perhaps you will all look forward that that one!  
CCS does not belong to me, but this story does.  
  
A New Beginning  
"Gee, thanks Mrs. Bowman." I said.  
"Yeah, thanks for the ride." Kanari added. Five kids hopped out of the minivan. Mrs. Bowman had blond hair and multicolored eyes. She smiled and waved, then drove off.  
"Bye mum!" Nakita waved with her right hand, wince she was holding Cherry in the other. "C'mon, let's go." I groaned.  
"The year I have to get braces is the year that this Jewel thing starts." I grumbled and walked into the building.  
"Aww, don't worry." Kanari said. "I've got to get braces too, and when they extracted three teeth, they gave me a needle shot on the roof of my mouth." Vash winced. I walked up to the front desk and signed in.  
"Luckily I only have to get one tooth pulled." I said as I joined the others and sat down. "Three sure is a lot." Nakita, who had perfect teeth, shrugged.  
"Yuki?" A dentist popped his head out of the door. "Okay, you can get your filling now."  
"Luckily for Vash, he never gets cavities." Kelli said.  
"They have sweets on Planet Uri?" Kanari asked as they all followed me in.  
"Well, not really." Kelli said. "It isn't exactly sweets, only (smug smile) there is this river that flows by our house and contains vast amounts of sugar, and I always drink from it when we play near that area. Queen Jewel does the cavities herself." She took a look at me and then at the numbing needles nearby. "Except she just crams this stick into your mouth and then ooh, the PAIN!!! She never numbs it. Lucky duck (she looked at Vash) never had one cavity. He's scared of needles."  
"Really?" Nakita asked. Vash groaned and tugged at Kelli's sleeve like a seven-year-old.  
"Yeah." Kelli said. "Once, when we had to get vaccine shots, he threw up on the nurse." We all started laughing. The dentist walked in, and took out a needle. Vash winced. He stuffed his ears and Kelli put her hands over his eyes.  
The dentist popped a needle in my mouth, and then another one. I groaned softly in pain. Vash clutched his stomach furiously. Right after the needles were done, I felt the shot take instant effect. Biting down on my lip, I felt nothing, but biting down on the other side, I felt pain. The dentist left. Vash was twisting in his chair.  
"Um, it's over already Vash." Nakita said. Vash looked up and Kelli removed his hands.  
"Fr reel, Vash, you suffer moor tan di do." I said with my numb mouth. Kanari laughed. "I'm not joking."  
"I think you should lay off the talking." Kanari said. I felt my right cheek. It seemed swollen. I compared the measurements of my two cheeks. Yes, it was much bigger.  
"Now the filling." Kanari said. The dentist had returned.  
"Err, Vash, do you think we should leave now?" Kelli suggested. "I mean, this IS pretty gruesome, and Yuki is probably going to scream (the dentist gave her a fierce look) so I was just saying, maybe it'd be best if we've just wait in the lounge."  
"I'm no wimp." Vash complained.  
"I didn't say you were." Kelli said gently. "I just think it's best." Vash considered his options for a moment, then nodded and headed out the door. Kelli followed close behind. Kanari giggled. The dentist worked some tools (and I almost screamed, it hurt so much) but in the end it was done. We left the room to wait for Mrs. Bowman to pick us up.  
"The numbing usually takes several hours." Kanari said. "Drink plenty of water."  
"Yeah, Kanari's the expert on this." Nakita laughed. "Oh, look, mom's here to pick us up!"  
"How do you feel, Yuki?" Mrs. Bowman asked as we climbed into the van.  
"Not fery good." I said, "Numb." Mrs. Bowman chuckled.  
"Well, my dears, where would we be heading now?" Mrs. Bowman asked.  
"Rene's house." Nakita said, and then gave out quick directions. "You'll see it instantly, mom, it's a big white mansion house."  
"And may I ask why?" Nakita looked confused.  
"Because she works at a toy factory." Nakita said.  
"No, I meant why you are going to Rene's house."  
"Oh! Well, she just invited us over and some other people." Nakita said. Mrs. Bowman smiled, and then tried to follow Nakita's directions as best as she could.  
My mouth was hurting, and I felt as if it were glued together. Moving my mouth, a felt a "snap." I made a face.  
"You'll be okay." Kanari said. "It only takes a few hours to go away."  
"Only?" I asked.  
"And see, you're talking better already!" Kanari tried to encourage me. I groaned.  
Rene's house was decorated, at least the door was. I wondered what the special occasion was. Rene opened the door prior to our knock. She let us in. Doughboy, Liz, and Snowy were already there. Mrs. Bowman left us at the door.  
"When do you want me to pick you up?" She asked. Rene poked me with four fingers, and then once again.  
"How about four and a half?" I asked, responding to our secret code. Kanari imitated the way I spoke in a whisper. The rest looked at me strangely.  
"Okay, I'll come back in half and hour." Mrs. Bowman walked back to the car.  
"Thanks!" I said. Rene echoed me.  
"Why?" Nakita asked as soon as her mother was out of earshot.  
"It's my mum's birthday, and she's coming home ASAP, which is probably five, and I want everything to be ready." Rene said. "Mum and I hardly see each other, because she works so long at the toy factory."  
"Yeah." Kanari said. "Well, let's go in." Kanari made her way inside.  
"So what's the plan?" Doughboy asked. "Anyone?"  
"We will visit the Fourth Dimension to find the door to the Fifth." Kelli said. "Ooh, where's Anora?" Anora popped out of the bushes and spread out her brown bat-like wings.  
"I know the way through the best." She said. Vash shuddered.  
"Do we have to go through that place again?" He asked. "Ugh."  
"Why, is it bad?" Nakita asked, cuddling a content Cherry in her arms.  
"Have you ever been there?" Doughboy asked. "There are zombies that follow you around and try to get you. We met Ariel in there, and I supposed we'll meet Eriol too." Kanari shuddered.  
"Also, there are some people that automatically freeze when they enter the Fourth Dimension." Vash said. "They have the most horrible expressions. Most of them never make it back to where they came from."  
"Are they all criminals?" Nakita sat down in a chair, put her chin in her hand, and let Cheery run around the room. She focused her eyes of Vash.  
"Most of the time." Vash seemed to be enjoying himself. "The most dangerous, blood thirsty of them all, and-" Kelli started to laugh.  
"Not really." She cut Vash off. "Most of them are innocent people and only a few are criminals."  
"Oh." Nakita said.  
"Vash lies, and likes to mess around with people." Kelli said, laughing.  
"Well, Yuki and I are very gullible." Nakita said. I nodded.  
"Yeth." I said. Rene giggled, and came back to the room with a smaller box.  
"Shoes!" She said. We all groaned as Rene passed around some black shoes, a special type for the girls and boys, though Vash and Doughboy refused to wear their shoes. "Oh, I found this in the newspaper." Rene pulled out a newspaper clipping, and handed it to Kanari.  
"It's very recent." Kanari said. "What does it say?" Kanari handed the clipping to me and looked around for her glasses, which were lying on the table. I read it quickly, then gasped and gave it to Nakita, who was still sitting on the chair, with Cherry in her lap putting on her usual shoes.  
"Let's see." Nakita said. "Only two days ago. Hmm? : News reporters say that there has been a disturbance in the tanks of fish at the nearby Bridgestone Aquarium, and also in the Community Pool. Cyclones have mysteriously appeared and so have whirlpools. Some believe this is a sea monster. As long as it remains, we advise people to stay away from these places." Nakita looked up thoughtfully. "Hmm."  
"Watery Card." Vash announced.  
"But I thought you already had that card Yuki." Doughboy said. Liz nodded. I started to flip through my book.  
"I did." I said. "Remember, I gave Doughboy that cordial when we first met Kanari and her jewel with the Watery Card."  
"Something is wrong, then." Vash said. "Hm."  
"I might have lost that card." I said.  
"Maybe." Nakita said. "But you usually don't lose things."  
"I have a suspicion that I've been robbed." I said. "Probably by Eriol."  
"Probably." Kanari said. "Is your mouth better now?" I nodded.  
"WE NEED TO GET INSIDE THE AQUARIUM." I said grimly. Rene dug in her purse.  
"Tickets!" She said. "C'mon, this is card is worth capturing as well as this is worth using." We got into our costumes and headed towards the park (okay, so I used the Illusion Card because we DID look a little suspicious heading down the street dressed like that).  
We arrived at the front of the aquarium and Rene handed the guy her tickets. As she did, she moved out of the Illusion. Luckily she was wearing those normal clothes she had brought for herself. Her camcorder was in the other hand. The Illusion only showed Nakita, Rene, and me, so we only had to pay for three people. We walked inside and I closed the Illusion.  
"Well, nothing suspicious has happened so far, so we can go home now." Doughboy started towards the door. Liz grabbed the back of his collar.  
"Not so fast." She said, pointing down the dim aisle. It was deserted, except for a shape watching the circular pool. AS our eyes adjusted, we could see what it was.  
"Colton!" Kanari exclaimed.  
"SHHH!!!!" We tried so shush her, but Colton turned his head. In a split second, he came charging at us.  
WE ran.  
"Ah, Release!" Liz got out her sword, and held it in front of Colton. Colton stopped and turned around to come the other way.  
"Oh bad." Doughboy had already summoned his bubble and was rising.  
"What are we running?" I demanded. "We have to fight him and we're supposed to send him to the Fourth Dimension!"  
"Are there security cameras here?" Nakita asked nervously. I looked around.  
"There!" I pointed to one damaged camera. "I guess Colton has already taken care of the security."  
Rene and Liz took to the air on her broomstick. Snowy, Kanari, Nakita, and I quickly followed, and so did Kelli and Vash.  
"I swear Vash, you need wings." Kelli said. "I mean, why didn't you ask Queen Jewel?"  
"You weren't supposed to ask." Vash replied gravely, and then his expression changed suddenly. "Ahh, Colton can fly!" Colton charged up to Vash and Kelli, like a flying beast. It looked like a definite collision.  
"Ah!" Kanari shouted.  
"Watch out!" Nakita said. "Uh, Release!" Nakita bells (which were still in her hair) moved into the release position and turned into bigger bells. Blinded by the light, Colton stopped. Nakita's bells were lighting up the whole place.  
"Uh, how does this work?" Nakita asked. No one answered. No one had time. Suddenly, water rose from the pool and wrapped itself around Nakita, bringing her down.  
"Nakita!" I called, rushing to help. Colton looked stunned, but that didn't stop him from making a huge swipe at Kelli and Vash. It didn't hurt them, but I can't say it had no effect. Kelli fell out of the air, and they both splashed into the water. Kelli's wings were wet, and she couldn't fly out. Vash was struggling.  
Nakita was still in the water, and it was forcing her under. I quickly did something with two of my cards (which I can't tell you at the moment, it will spoil everything) and then rushed to pull her out. It was not working. I managed to annoy the Watery Card enough that it stopped with Nakita and turned into it's visible from. It resembled the Firey Card only it looked slightly older. I backed up a bit. Element Cards had four times the power than the normal ones, and the powerful card, like Power, for instance, was almost as tough. Rene and Liz flew over to Nakita and managed to get her out of the water and into a chair (we were in an area, and surrounding the circular pool were stands of chairs to sit on to watch the show, only ever since the water card had appeared, there had been no shows.  
Snowy flew over to offer her hands to Vash and Kelli, and Doughboy followed her example. Colton rushed to get them off balance too.  
"AHH, help!" Snowy called. Suddenly, with a huge tackle and swipe, Colton went flying and crashed into some stands. Nakita, who was nearby, shrieked as Colton came flying her way and flew up to get out of the way, since her wings were now dry.  
Cerberus was hovering on top of the pool, looking all brave and smug at the same time. I had transformed a little Kero to Cerberus with the Earthy and Firey Cards.  
"Kero!" Nakita said. "What are you doing here?" Kero shrugged.  
"I followed you guys." He said. "I knew Yuki would be at Rene's house, so I came over and saw you guys leaving for the Aquarium."  
"Oh." Nakita said. Colton got up, and the Watery Card started to attack Kelli and Vash, who had barely gotten out of the water.  
"Vash." Cerberus got under Vash, and Vash climbed into his back. He transported Vash to the stands to rest, and then approached Colton.  
"Okay, I've got it figured out." Snowy said. "Doughboy, Rene, Liz, and I will help Cerberus with Colton, and the rest of you (Kelli, Yuki, Kanari, and Nakita) will capture the Watery Card."  
"Okay." I said. "C'mon." Nakita and Kanari rose to fight. Kelli assisted to Vash.  
"I'll be there in a moment." She said. The Watery Card (in it's visible form) scowled at us. She snapped her fingers, and a flash of water rose to meet us above the pool.  
"AH!" Nakita moved out of the way. Cherry cheered from the stands. Since they had arrived, Cherry and Anora had hid under the stands. The Watery did a series of snaps and clicks, and water aimed at us everywhere.  
It was tough. Nakita finally got a chance to point her bells at the Watery.  
"Fire." Nakita said, meaning for the weapon to shoot, but instead, fire came streaming out. Unfortunately, Kanari was in the way between Nakita and the Watery.  
"Watch out Kanari." I said, lunging for her. We both fell out into the water as Nakita's fire toasted the Watery.  
"Quick, Yuki!" Anora called. I struggled to get out of the water. I wasn't working. My wings were full of water and keeping me down. I held out my key and though underwater, "Oh Key of Clow, Power of Magic, Power of Light, Surrender the Wand, the force ignite! Release!" The wand popped right out and surfaced, bringing me to the surface of the water and I breathed in the fresh air.  
"Fly!" I said, hitting a card. I was finally back in the air again, since the Fly Card had pulled me out of the water several feet. I spread out my wings and sprinkled the water droplets out. Since my wingspan was so big, everyone got sprinkled on. Cherry and Anora giggled as the water droplets hit them.  
Flying up to the Watery Card, I commanded, "Watery, Return to Your Power Confined! Watery!" The form of the Watery Card wavered in front of me as it was sucked into its card. The Watery Card flew out of my hand and in front of Nakita, who took it, looking at the sleeping Watery inside of the card. I flew up to her.  
"Uh, Yuki?" Nakita firmly gave me the card. "I don't want it."  
"But you captured it!" I protested.  
"Maybe so." Nakita said. "But I'm not the one collecting 52 cards, and I don't know how to use it, so it wouldn't be of any use to me. Here, take it." I reluctantly took it, and we met at the side of the rink with the others. Doughboy used his Memorization to show what happened, and so we could visualize it exactly right.  
After Snowy had given directions, the four of them headed right to Colton, who had just launched his Missile Launcher at Cerberus.  
Doughboy used his lasers to hit some of the bullets, and they disappeared, missing Cerberus. The rest bounced off the side of the tank as Cerberus flew sideways away from the bullets, but one bullet made a hole in the glass. Water started to leak out, slowly at first, but then the whole part of the glass split and water came pouring out. Doughboy ran up to the glass, and with Cerberus's help, sealed the tank. Colton dived for Cerberus again, but was too slow for Liz. With Rene's help, they had gotten up in the air, and Rene had let go of Liz just on top of Colton. Liz hung on one hand tightly to Colton's mane as Colton shrugged to toss her off. Liz took both hands and plunged the sword into his back. Colton howled in pain, and there was a ball of blackness, with light streaming through it for a split second. The beams of light illuminated the room, and purple sparks like electricity currents revolved around the ball. A second later, it was gone, as well as Colton.  
"YES!" Snowy gave Doughboy a high-five. "We DID it!"  
"Um, actually." Doughboy said, but was cut off. Rene rushed over to Liz.  
"Oh, I was so worried you'd disappear too!" Rene said. Liz had fallen onto some stands, and was dazzled, but otherwise okay. Liz stood up.  
"I'm okay." She said, rubbing her head. "Look!" Doughboy cut the Memorization short.  
"That was when we say you capturing the Watery Card." He said, tucking the pendant away in his shirt.  
"I must say, that was some experience." Vash said, rubbing his hair. His shaggy hair was spiked up when it was wet. As he did so, he sprinkled water over everyone. Cherry giggled. Nakita smiled and bent down to pick her up. Anora jumped up on Vash's shoulder and wrapped herself around his neck, choking him.  
"ARG." Vash said, coughing. "Get off!" Kelli tried to pry Anora off. Cerberus turned back into Kero, and I felt the light go out of him and back into the cards. Kero lay down on my shoulder.  
"Whew!" He said. "Boy, am I tired. Turning into Cerberus really takes the energy out of you."  
"You didn't mind so much when we were in Nothing." I said diligently.  
"Well, that was different." Kero said in a little kid's voice. I cut him off before he could explain.  
"Shouldn't we go now?" I asked. Kelli nodded, and fell back as she finally got Anora off of Vash's neck. Anora ran towards the nearest door. And Cherry yelled, "Ay!" which Nakita and I have always believed was her way of saying, "Yeah!"  
The door was open, and there was a sigh of relief as we got out.  
"It's already five!" I exclaimed, checking my watch.  
"Uh-oh." Nakita said in a singsong voice. "Um. Err, let's fly back to Rene's house, land in the backyard, get our bags, and then I'll call my mom and tell her we went to see a movie."  
"And then she'll ask you what." Kanari added, crossing her arms.  
"Uh." Nakita said. "What's playing, anyone?"  
Doughboy mumbled under his breath the lamest movie I had ever heard of.  
"Uh, okay." Nakita said. She wasn't that much of a movie fan. Vash listed a few more. We stared at him.  
"Vash, er, finds it fascinating to see a projector and a big screen." Kelli said nervously. Vash nodded, his mind seemingly somewhere else.  
"Okay then." Rene said. "Quick, let's go, before my mom arrives home!"  
  
Ouch, an important chapter, with a lot happening...You haven't had some of these in a long time. 


	15. Surprises

CCS does not belong to me, but this story does.  
The first half of this was written when my friends were still being...well, they were never nice, at least for this year, they were nice last year (GEE, I WONDER WHY THAT CHANGED) so the first half is cool, with the action, and then halfway, just when you feel that you are about to find out something about the Dimension worlds worth knowing, I stop and we go out of the dimensions and switch to school stuff.  
Why? Well, you could say I got mad at two of my "friends" and decided to base the rest of what a chaotic day I've had in school today. So that's why. If you want good chapters, adventurous and humorous ones, review my story to cheer me up or (to two certain ppl) be nicer so I feel like writing it or you'll find the next few chapters littered with cracks about them and everything happening at school.  
  
Surprises  
"I've only got three of the lost cards." I said. "That's weird."  
"You'll get a better chance next time." Vash assured me.  
It was nine PM, at night, and we had told our parents we were going to camp out in the park. They reluctantly agreed. So there we were, the nine of us: Kelli, Vash, Nakita, Kanari, Snowy, Doughboy, Liz, Rene, and I, plus the three pets, Anora, Cherry, and Kero. We were standing near the spot that Eriol first captured Kanari's Yellow Jewel.  
"It brings back so many memories, you know." I said softly, looking at the door leading to the Fourth Dimension in the sky.  
"Yeah." Snowy replied.  
"Like the time my jewel was captured." Kanari added.  
"To the time William Bice was hit by that car." Nakita whispered. There was some coughing and giggling.  
"Well." Vash said, shuddering. "That door, are we ever going to go in?"  
"You'd never think it would be so hard." Anora said. "But don't worry Vash, I know the way." Vash nodded.  
"Uh-huh." Vash said. "Whatever you say." Anora frowned.  
"Really, I do!" She chirped from the ground. Vash bent down to face her.  
"It's not that I don't trust you." Vash said, tickling her under her chin. "It's that I never want to go through there again."  
"But you have to understand Vash, we're saving millions of people from going through what you've been through." I said softly. "C'mon. We have to get going." Vash stood up.  
"For real, I need wings!" Vash whispered as I mounted my wand with him on it. "I mean, everyone else can fly, except for Liz!" Anora flew nearby, keeping an eye on Vash. The rest of the group rose from the ground from their own accord.  
"Even Doughboy." Vash said.  
"I've noticed the two of you don't like each other very much." I whispered. "What's going on?"  
"I don't know." Vash said. "He's nice, sometimes, just really impatient, inconsiderate, and demands a lot of attention. He doesn't like me very much."  
"Aha." I said. "A guy who represents everything you dislike." Vash nodded. We approached it.  
"Um." Kelli said, looking at the closed door.  
"Anyone remember how to open it?" Snowy asked nervously. "That was SO long ago, even before any of the Jewels."  
"Yeah." Liz agreed from Rene's broomstick.  
"I remember I just opened it." Doughboy said.  
"Don't be crazy." Kanari said. "You can't just open it when Eriol slashed at it."  
"He has no manners." Doughboy said. "He doesn't know how to use the doorknob." Doughboy opened the door for us. We could see right through it.  
"Be my guest." Doughboy said. I looked in.  
"I'll go." Kelli bravely volunteered. "Or else we could be here all day." She encountered the door and disappeared.  
"Kelli." Vash said. I quickly followed. Again, the darkness surrounded me, like an inkbottle that had been spluttered over a piece of paper. That indescribable feeling came back. I shivered.  
We were standing on something, and the wings off my wand had disappeared, so I Confined it. Nakita was next to appear, then Kanari, Liz and Rene, Doughboy, and last of all Snowy. Anora followed us and Cherry was with Nakita, as always. When Kero came in, he closed the door (or rather, it disappeared) and there was nothing left but pure darkness.  
"Is it always this dark?" Kanari asked. "I've never been here before."  
"Is it this dark in the Fifth Dimension too?" Nakita asked Vash, who shook his head.  
"No." Vash said. "Nothing like it."  
"That's why I don't like this place." Kelli said, chasing her arms furiously to keep the last sign of them living inside them. "It's always so cold and that makes you clammy."  
"So where are we supposed to go exactly?" Rene asked.  
"How should I know?" Kanari said. "I've NEVER been here."  
"I suppose there is a direction to head for the door." Vash said. "Strange. When we arrive, we always take the shortcut, because every hates the Fourth Dimension, but now, er, I just don't know." Vash stuck his hands into his red jacket (which is more like a turtleneck somehow, but he calls it a jacket, and I assume it was pretty warm, it looked soft and warm, like Nakita's soft baby blue "jacket").  
"There is a door!" Anora piped out. "I just can't recognize anything or which direction to head first."  
"That helps us a lot." Doughboy said. Anora shrugged.  
"Link?" I suggested. Doughboy shook his head.  
"I don't know, but Link never comes out now." Doughboy sighed. "Oh well."  
"You scared him away!" Snowy said. "How could you?" She demanded. Normally, we would have laughed, but under the conditions, laughing was not permissible.  
"There has GOT to be a way." Vash said.  
"I know that door won't appear or open up until we have fulfilled out destiny." I said. "So we have got to move, anywhere, even if we don't know where." We began to walk.  
"This is called the Fourth Dimension, right?" Snowy asked. Doughboy looked at her, eyebrows raised.  
"Uh, yes, why on earth are you asking me that?" Doughboy asked ("Why on Earth?" Cherry asked. "We aren't on earth anymore, are we Nakita?" Nakita shook her head and kissed Cherry on the head for no apparent reason).  
"Well, the Fourth Dimension is time, but this has nothing to do with time." Snowy said.  
"Except that time freezes here." Kelli said.  
"It does?" Rene asked.  
"Yes." Kelli said. "Kind of hard to explain. If we don't go to the Fifth Dimension, then when we arrive back on Earth, time will be as if it were frozen. But really, time in the Fourth Dimension isn't, because you and I are using up time right now, and so on."  
"And Earth is the Third Dimension." Liz figured.  
"That would be so." Kelli explained. "So, logically, there must be another connection, and the door to the Second Dimension."  
"We're covered this before." Doughboy grumbled. Everyone ignored him. It was the only thing to talk about.  
"And the Fifth Dimension is time travel." Snowy said. "Am I the only one who finds that just a LITTLE bit fishy?"  
"Yeah, I know." Rene said. "You'd think it'd be the Third Dimension too."  
"I want to get out of here." I whimpered.  
"We all do." Kanari said. "That's not the problem. The problem is how to get out of here."  
"And your suggestion would be?" Kelli asked sarcastically.  
"I don't have one." Kanari said back.  
"Good, then keep your mouth shut and let the rest of us think." Kelli said. Kanari opened her mouth to say more, but Nakita elbowed her hard in the ribs.  
"Ow!" Kanari aid, glaring at Nakita, but the rest of us were already back at work. Doughboy had failed in summoning Link, so Anora led the way as we walked and walked and seemed to walk for centuries. Finally, we came to a door.  
"The Fifth Dimension." Anora said. "I think."  
"What do you mean you think?" Kanari asked.  
"Oh never mind." Anora said. "I used the stars to direct me."  
"Stars?" Kanari said, looking around. Anora sighed deeply. She pointed to little specks in the distance. Kanari snorted.  
"And anyways, as I was saying before I was ever so rudely interrupted (glare Kanari's way), we have to try to get the door open." Anora said, and a couple of us tried to pull the door open.  
"It's no use." Doughboy said.  
"Never mind." Anora said. "Let's go back. It isn't time yet. At least we know where we are, and that was the purpose of today. The door won't open until it is time. Third!" Suddenly we were flying through the darkness of the Fourth Dimension again, and the stars whizzing past. A door was fast approaching. It opened and we all dropped through it. The door closed. The light blinded us. Suddenly, we were on the ground again.  
"So now what?" Snowy asked.  
"I will tell you when the time is ripe and the door is ready to be opened ("Ha, as if we could trust a squirrel"-Kanari) and then we will go through it." Anora said. She sighed. "But our mission of today is complete. We wasted a lot of time trying to find the door, but now I know where to go, and we can go through it next time." She nodded. "Rest in peace, we have to sleep now."  
"Thanks for the ride, Mrs. Bowman." It was Wednesday morning, and Mrs. Bowman had driven Nakita and I to school. Mrs. Bowman smiled and drove off. Nakita and I walked to our usual morning hangout. Kanari and Vash were already there, talking. Kelli was there too, reading a book, but one look at her ears showed that she was listening to every word of their conversation. The ground was somehow littered with trash.  
The band director came out, and inquired about the trash as we approached, and as he left, Vash said, "Let's say they did it." Pointing at Nakita and me. Kanari nodded in approval.  
"Did what?" I asked. Nakita looked curiously at the trash of soda bottles and plastic bags.  
"Nothing." Kanari said.  
"Do you even know what we're talking about?" Vash asked. Nakita shrugged and we both looked at the trash. Huh. Kelli rolled her eyes.  
"Don't be ridicules Vash." She said, and then returned to her book. The wind started to blow up again.  
"I think it's only forty degrees Fahrenheit today." Nakita whispered, shivering. I nodded, and started blowing head onto my hands. Kanari ran and hid behind Vash.  
"Ooh, it's cold." She whimpered.  
"Noticeably." I mumbled. Nakita was following my example and blowing too. We were both freezing. Kelli, who was dressed as well as the rest of us, showed no sign of coldness, and Vash didn't either.  
Kanari snuggled her head against Vash's neck. Nakita turned around and whispered to me, "Okay, that does not look good. What if someone walks by?" I giggled, and stamped my feet to keep any feeling of life still in them. Kelli was gritting her teeth.  
"It's mutually beneficial." Vash said.  
"How?" Nakita asked.  
"Well, she stays warm, and THEY (he nodded towards a group of boys lurking nearby) don't think I'm gay." Nakita raised her eyebrows and Kelli cleared her throat quite loudly.  
"Oh, I got braces." Kanari said, opening her mouth.  
"We've noticed." Nakita said. "Yuki told me you got them yesterday and they were green."  
"What's wrong with green?" Kanari demanded.  
"Nothing." Nakita said. "She just mentioned you got braces and also they were green, that's all." Nakita, who had turned around to speak to Kanari, turned around to me and sighed.  
"What's wrong?" I asked. She shook her head.  
"Nothing, otherwise the fact that I'm over here freezing my butt off." Nakita said.  
"And she's over there cuddled up next to Vash?" I finished, snickering softly. Nakita scowled, and the next moment we started to laugh and stamp our feet. The stamping warmed us and the laughing made us feel good. Kelli smiled, and tilted her head, wondering what was so funny. Kanari, who thought we were laughing about her braces, gritted her teeth and was insulted.  
"Don't make fun of my braces." Kanari said.  
"We aren't." I said. "And besides, I've got to get braces too, so I'm not the one that should be talking." I shivered. To Nakita, I said, "Brr, this cold is giving me a headache." Nakita nodded.  
"Nick!" Kanari shouted and waved. Nakita and I both turned around. Nick was coming this way. He was one of Vash's good friends.  
"Yo, what's up?" Nick asked. We had seen him around lately, and he came in the mornings sometimes to visit and to hang out.  
"Not much." Kanari said, waving furiously. Despite the fact that she was freezing, she seemed warm enough to jump up and down. Vash didn't say anything, Kelli was focused in her book, and Nakita and I were almost ice sculptures now, and too frozen to say anything.  
Nick and Kanari talked for a few minutes, but that was basically all, and I felt a little left out of it. I'm sure Nakita felt the same way. There was not much to the morning left to look forward too, except maybe being made fun of Vash and Kanari.  
"Oh my god." Nakita said after school. I nodded.  
"That's what she said." I said.  
"How can she like Nick, and be (here Nakita said all but a nice word) Vash?" Nakita asked.  
"Nakita!" I said, shocked, but couldn't help giggling. We were both standing in front of her last period class, which was reading. I started to walk down the hall with her.  
"I don't know, and I don't really care." I said. "It's just so weird lately."  
"Kanari hasn't been much of a friend." Nakita said. Eliza floated by, carrying her books.  
"Kanari's nice." She said, walking by.  
"Yeah, nice, as in nice to say, 'Go to the other school after you graduate from Sabreda so you can help me keep in touch with Nick because he's going there.'" I mumbled, but Eliza was already gone. It had some remark on Nakita, however.  
"She said that?" Nakita asked. I nodded. Nakita raised her eyebrows. "Isn't that just a little selfish and mean?"  
"When I said, 'You're mean.' She asked, 'What?' and I said, 'Don't you want me to go to the same school as you?' and she said, 'No.' and I asked, 'Why not?' and she said, 'Cause I don't like you.'"  
"I thought the two of you were friends?" Nakita said, letting her sentence trail off.  
"I don't know." I said. "Anyways, I'm not talking to her, even though she said she was just joking, Vash said the same thing and I'm tired of getting cracks from both of them."  
"Yeah, me too." Nakita said. "Kanari and I were never really friends anyhow. (She left Vash out of this) They make comments on me too, but I'm glad I'm not in any of her classes."  
"We only have third period together, but we have PE on the same block." I said. "Even if she's only in seventh grade." Nakita shrugged.  
"Yeah, well, it's not as if you could do anything about it." Nakita said. We had reached the stairs.  
"Listen, I'll phone you later." I said. "I have E-Team today, so I have to go." Nakita nodded.  
"Bye!" She said, and hopped down the deserted stairway. Everyone was about already gone now. I watched Nakita disappear and then walked to E-Team, letting my feet shuffle. I sighed. What a wreck of a day.  
"And in all this, Kanari had to have the Yellow Jewel, even though she lived so far away." I said. "Gosh, the way things happen sometimes, and all." I looked around, and then kept my thoughts to myself. I couldn't really understand it.  
There was a slight thud as Doughboy ran past. I smiled, as I realized how Doughboy must feel.  
"Everyone picking on him and people stealing his friends." I said, walking to the E-Team science room. "Hmm, and now Vash is here too." I said. I walked into E-Team. Practice had already started. There was nothing much to do but to endure the forty minutes of it.  
  
I know I make a lot of spelling mistakes, but ignore them and try to make out the best you can. Thank you. (P.S. Sometimes, I miss or skip letters, so word could be sword and an could be and. You just have to try VERY hard to deciper them. One day I will read through ALL the chapters I have written and make ALL of the spelling corrections, but not now).  
(Maybe during the summer, I have lots of time then.) 


	16. Good-Bye Nakita

My friends and I are at peace, so this is cool, and action, but it's sad...one said that sometimes to make a good story, sacrifice is neccesary. And it was very painful and heart-wrenching to write this, but it is SO full of stuff.  
You know, next time, I should make a major cliff hanger and stop writing in the middle of a battle and say, "Till Next Time." That would be cool. What do you think? Well, I just might try it. This one isn't like that, though, so don't worry.  
CCS does not belong to me (*sniff*).  
  
Good-Bye Nakita  
Anora walked outside and sniffed the air. She nodded.  
"Certainly." She said. Kelli, who was walking next to her, tilted her head to look at Anora in her face.  
"It is time?" Kelli asked. Anora nodded. Kelli ran back into the house.  
"Vash!" She called, running up the stairs. "Vash!" She reached the hallway. Vash's head poked out of his door.  
"What is it?" Vash asked.  
"It is time for us to open the door and go to the Fifth Dimension." Kelli said urgently, picking up the phone that lay on the table in the hallway. Vash looked at the phone next to him as she began to dial.  
"Hello?" Kelli asked. "Yuki?"  
"What?" I said.  
"Come over as soon as you can." Kelli said. "The door is open."  
"Okay." I said. "Do you want me to phone some people for you?"  
"Yeah." Kelli said. "You phone Liz, Snowy, Doughboy, and I'll phone Rene, Nakita, and Kanari." I nodded, even though she couldn't see me. "Hurry." She said and hung up.  
"It's Saturday." Doughboy complained. We shrugged as Vash opened the door for us and we went in. The gloominess of the Fourth Dimension filled us at once, and Cherry began to cry.  
"Ooh, don't cry." Nakita crooned over Cherry, letting her dark brown hair fall onto Cherry, who cried with glee. "Ow, don't pull." Nakita said, wincing. Anora looked around and started to lead the way.  
"This place is so depressing I wouldn't be surprised if anyone in here decides to commit suicide." Vash said.  
"I just hope no one does." I said, shivering. "It's always so cold in here."  
By now were already halfway to the door.  
"That was quick." Rene said. Liz nodded, and rubbed her arms to keep warm. We suddenly found ourselves dressed in Rene's costumes.  
"How do they do that?" Doughboy asked. "And why does this HAT keep coming back?" He took off his tall black hat and scowled, clamping it between his palms. Vash snuggled into his turtleneck jacket.  
"You must live in somewhere cold." Snowy said to Kelli. "You don't seem bothered by the cold at all."  
"Well, it's cold, I guess you could say." Kelli said. "I'm used to it by now, though. I don't really mind the Fourth Dimension either; it just kind of makes me gloomy and cold."  
We had reached the door. Anora stood before it. We waited. And waited. And waited.  
"Uh, Anora, do you plan on opening that anytime soon?" Kelli asked.  
"SHH!" Anora said. "The worlds in the Fifth Dimension are constantly spinning. I have to wait until Uri comes spinning this way so we can go through the gate."  
"And how long will that take?" Vash asked, eyebrows raised. Nakita and I exchanged worried looks. Anora didn't answer. Instead she focused her mind and energy intensely on the door.  
"Door of Winds, Space and Matter,  
Open Your Gates of Blue Lined Water.  
Let Us Through to Our Destind Place,  
Hurry, Before You Pass the Phase.  
We are warriors of Uri,  
Returning to our land.  
Let us rejoice and rejoin  
With those we band."  
Anora said.  
"Hey, that kind of rhymes!" Doughboy said.  
"I've heard better." Snowy said.  
"Yeah, well, it's not supposed to rhyme." Kelli said. "And I personally think it's pretty lame. The last line should be 'with those we band with.'" The rest of us shrugged and continued to look on as the door began to glow and change into a circular shape. Then it started to glow around the edges.  
"Uh, Anora, is it really supposed to do this?" Rene asked. Anora frowned.  
"Somehow I don't think so." The door had disappeared, and we were left with a big black hole. We could still see, however. Nakita looked in the hole.  
"What's going on?" She asked. "Do we go in?"  
"I guess." Kelli said. "A-Anora?" Anora frowned.  
"Somehow, I don't think I did this correctly." Anora said. "Something is wrong."  
"C'mon." Vash urged. "We're wasting time, and Uri is moving!" Nakita hurried to the door and Vash followed close behind. Then something dark blue shot out of the hole. It shot out stick like arms, which seemed like wired, and wrapped them around Nakita so she couldn't move. Then it began to pull her in. Vash grabbed her around her waist and started to pull. Kelli ran to help Vash.  
"Whatever you do, don't let go." Kelli said. "Anora, WHAT IS GOING ON?"  
"Oh, my gosh!" Anora said with terrified big brown eyes. "That must be the Blue-Black thing." By now Nakita had almost been pulled through the hole. Part of her body was through the black thing and seemed to disappear. The black thing wrapped its long, wipes around Vash.  
"Ow!" Vash cried as they hit him and started to bind him. Liz and Snowy ran to help. Liz and Snowy both grabbed Kelli, while Kanari and Rene tried to free Vash and help pull him back. I ran to help Vash pull Nakita, unaware I was putting myself into great risk.  
"Ow!" I cried as a whip hit me straight in the face.  
"Where's Cherry, Kero?" Rene asked, pulling as hard as she could. We were all afraid is we used our weapons; we would offset the balance between the dimension and plunge all the worlds into darkness. Or we couldn't go anywhere at all.  
"Cherry must be with Nakita." Kero said. "Listen, I'm going in there." He flew up by the hole.  
"You can't!" I shouted furiously, tugging on Nakita's arm as the whip wrapped itself around my waist and neck.  
"I'm going to see if I can rescue Cherry." Kero said. "I can carry her back." He started to fly off and I knew it was no good stopping him.  
"Good luck!" I said, chocking as the wire wrapped itself around my neck. Rene rushed over and cut it with her pocketknife (I'm not sure how many she has or carries around at a time, but I'm thankful). I sighed of relief.  
"Oh Key of Clow, Power of Magic, Power of Light, Surrender the Wand, the FORCE IGNITE!" I called. "RELEASE!" I got my wand, summoned the sword card, and cut the wires (which were now sprouting vines).  
"The Black-Blue thing is a thing that roams in the between Dimensions and tries to alter you off course. I think he eats you after he captures you." Anora said.  
"Oh." Doughboy said. He was pulling at Kelli, who was now trying to keep her head out of the way of advancing wires. Rene and Liz were busily cutting. "I thought it was some Wood Card."  
"It isn't." Anora said.  
"That's it." I said, sword still in hand. "I can't take this anymore." I sprouted my wings and started to fly towards the hole.  
"Yuki, no!" Kanari shouted. "You could get yourself killed."  
"I'm going to help Kero save Nakita and Cherry weather you like it or not!" I said.  
"Vash, how are you holding out?" Kelli asked. No answer. "Vash?" Vash raised his head, and grunted.  
"I don't think I can do this much longer." He moaned. "Ooh, it hurts. I don't think Nakita is all right either. She's a little limp, and I think she fainted, because she's not helping with the resistance."  
"Remember, don't let go!" Kelli called urgently. "Vash, you must do this."  
"I know." Vash said. I plunged through the hole.  
I was on the Black Blue thing. It was shaped like a tree, with many wires as roots. The top of it was two humongous eyes, and a grain like thing. It was huge. I was standing on a primary wire, which led to secondary wires, which led to little wires that smacked us, which lead to wires that sprouted leaves. Kero was in one of those little wires with leaves, moaning. I ran up to him and cut the wire. The two eyes turned to look at me. That really freaked me out.  
"AHH!" I said. Kero regained feeling into his wings, and we ran to get out.  
"Not so fast." A wire suddenly blocked us.  
"AH!" We screamed.  
"Am I really that ugly?" The thing demanded. "I want to know."  
"No, of course not." Kero said. The thing seemed to consider it. I was noticing how it looked so much like an octopus. Cherry began to squeal.  
"None of that." The monster whipped Cherry across her face. Cherry screamed in pain and started to cry.  
"Hey!" I said, flying up to the thing, with my wings extended and Kero on my shoulder.  
"Who do you think you are?" I demanded. Past the thing I saw a faint light, as if we were in some tunnel. So, I thought, this is the place where you zoom through to go to Uri. But it was so late already, Uri must have moved past already.  
"I know who I am!" The thing demanded, raised a wire to whip me, but missed. He soon surrounded me with wires though. Kero darted out, and in the midst of my insults, the ting didn't notice. Kero helped Cherry out of the door and into Rene's safe hands.  
"Uh." I said, looking around. I was locked in a cube, with the walls made out of wire. "Sword!" I cut the wires, but they soon started to grow back.  
"Ah!" I shouted. "Ooh, Little Card!" I threw the Little Card into the air. "Little Card, shrink this monster down to size! Little, Release and Dispel!" The monster began to shrink, but although the affect was great, he was only at the height of 10 foot, whereas he had been the height of the Eiffel Tower. Back in the Fourth Dimension, every sighed. The wires had deceased, since the monster had shrunk and so had the wires.  
"Little girl, you are not getting away with this!" He called. A couple of wires came shooting at me, but one went at Nakita and wrapped around her foot. While they had the chance, they had tried to drag her back into the Fourth Dimension, but they had only gotten as far as Vash. Nakita's foot was caught, and Vash pulled as hard as he could.  
"Damn it, monster!" I called as I sliced through some wires. I was getting mad. "Stop your wires!" The monster laughed, he seemed to be enjoying himself.  
"Urg." I said. "Okay, what card?" I paced through some card through my mind. "Uh, Power Card, suck the Power out of the monster! Power, Release and Dispel!" The Power came out (whereas my sword went back to being a wand) and shrunk the monster more, but as he shrunk, he pulled Nakita father into the Dimension. Now she was in it for real, only one arm not. Vash had one hand firmly grasped on Nakita's one arm, and it was slowly slipping, and slipping.  
"NO!" I shouted, running to help. "Ah!" The monster had used one Primary Wire to hit me, and the other to hit Nakita. Nakita went flying out of Vash's grasp (he had hit her on her back) and I went flying towards the door. The monster wrapped its last wire around Vash's hand, but Anora sprouted wings, came into the Dimension and bit the Wire.  
"OUCH!" The monster winced. "That hurt!" He had let go of Vash. Vash crawled off of the ground and jumped into the Dimension.  
"Nakita!" He yelled. I, who was flying, crashed into him, and caught onto his arm.  
"Vash, Nakita is gone." I said, flapping my wings furiously to keep us airborne. Anora was now fighting one on one with the thing.  
"Gone to where?" Vash asked. I looked around, and then groaned.  
"Oh no." I said. "She must've gone through the tunnel and into Uri." I groaned and pulled Vash back through the hole (or at least we were heading that way). The Power Card confined itself.  
"Vash?" I asked. He looked up, all tired and worn. "Do you have an ultimate attack or anything?" Vash looked pleading, as if asking me not to do it. But instead, I faced him towards the thing. Anora flew as fast as she could out of the way.  
"Atomic Shock." Vash said with his arms crossed in an X position. Seconds later, the flaming red and purple ball of fire and electricity hit the monster. There was a flash of light, and what looked like it was on fire, and then the thing screamed in pain and laughed madly.  
"Is that your best shock?" He asked. Vash, who had so bravely fought, now fainted.  
"We have to do something, Anora!" I said, worriedly, trying to transport Vash back through the hole in the wall. "Wait, is it shrinking?" I squinted at the wall.  
"Yes!" Anora said. "C'mon, the Fifth Dimension is closing, we must go!"  
"We have to destroy him, or else he'll be back next time." I said.  
"That's not our purpose." Anora said. "He's blocking us right now, and there's nothing we can do about it!"  
"So we retreat?" I asked.  
"Nothing better."  
"Man!" I grumbled. The door was closing fast. The thing placed two wires between the door and us. Kelli flew out, around the wires, and transported the worn and fainted Vash to her arms.  
"Do your best, Yuki." She said. "It's up to you now, whether the door closes or not! We have to get rid of this thing!"  
"But WHY?" Anora asked desperately. "Why can't we just go to the Fifth Dimension we were meant to go to, and just get whatever over with?"  
"Anora." Kelli said. "He took Nakita, and many innocent lives. We are never going to get anywhere, weather back to that door (she pointed to the round hole) or Uri if he doesn't move."  
"Uri has already closed and moved on." Anora said. "But I see your cause. We fight, destroy, and retreat. Okay, go Yuki." I flew up next to the thing, which was lucky considerably smaller, and weaker due to Vash's attack.  
"Sonic Boom." Anora shot out an invisible thing out of her mouth, and it hit the thing and left a dent in his skin. I ran up there, and stuck the sword right into him. He used a wire to pull me off, and I stabbed an eye. He howled in pain.  
"There has got to be a better attack." I said. "Ooh, I just don't know it." Anora looked desperately worried.  
"I think we've caused this one enough pain by now." She said.  
"There are others?"  
"Sure, lots, but rarely." Anora answered. "Only about one every two millenniums, so we did a good job with this one."  
"Yes." I said, pulling out the four element cards. Together, I summoned Windy, Watery, Firey and the Earthy to fight as one. It didn't take too long. Water blinded the other eye by squirting water, Firey spread flames, and the Windy helped fuel them. The Earthy worked on sending jolts of pain through the monster, and in the end, he ran away, feeling.  
"Not so quick." Anora fired a Sonic Boom after him, and then the four elements combined into one and sped after the monster. He exploded in a boom.  
Five Cards returned to my hand: The elements and the Little.  
"Wow." I said, and then turned back at the hole. "C'mon, we've got to go!" Kelli, who was by the hole, went through it nicely, and so did Anora, but I had to lie sideways and keep my wings low. The hold closed and disappeared right after I made it through.  
"Are you okay?" Liz asked.  
"Yeah, sure." I said, patting the dust off my arms and wincing when I touched a burn. Vash was pretty burned up and hurt too, and Kelli looked like she had been walking through a rosebush with a million thorns. Rene and Liz were pretty scratched up from cutting wires, but otherwise we were fine.  
All of us collapsed, exhausted.  
"I think we should start making our way back now." Anora said. Anora and Kero were hurt pretty badly, and Cherry was frightened and squealed and cried for Nakita.  
"Ooh, hush, she's not here." I said. "She's going to be gone for a while, so bear with us."  
"When will she be back?" Rene asked.  
"When the next matching eclipse happens." Anora said. Then, to our puzzled looks, "That means when The Fifth Dimension and Uri match up patterns again."  
"Then we will be able to rescue her too." Kelli said, sitting on the ground and stroking Vash's hair. "Poor Vash has been through a lot."  
"Yeah, seriously." Rene said. "Ouch. That must have hurt." We looked at Vash, and then though of Nakita.  
Nakita, who was gone, gone, and gone, into nowhere. And if she was in Uri...who knew the consequences of what could happen?  
  
Okay, so there IS a cliff hanger, but at least everyone's identity is known and all. I kind of wonder myself, what WILL happen to Nakita. I mean, I've only got it SEMI planned out in my brain. Ooh, how I love being an author!! Please review and I hope u enjoyed it! 


	17. A Comeback

Yuki: Not much in this chapter...just a little fill-ya-in for the next chapter. The next one has pretty much action, but may be a little confusing. I've almost finished writing it, just a couple more lines, then copying it and everything. I guess I could do it right now, but nah, I'll wait until tomorrow.  
CCS does not belong to me. Please R&R!  
  
A Comeback  
"What is going on?"  
We were still in the Fourth Dimension, even though it was a risky place, everyone was too worn to make the trip back. My cordial bottle had healed mostly everyone's wounds, and now Vash had awakened.  
In quick, descriptive words, Kelli told him the story.  
"Oh my!" Vash said, looking as he was about to cry (and I've never seen I guy cry before). "Nakita, she's really gone?" He looked around, as if not believing us and as if searching for her."  
"Vash." I said, putting a hand on his arm. "She's gone."  
"But where to!" Vash cried.  
"Vash." Kelli pleaded. "Please calm down."  
"But Nakita-"  
"Vash, she's not dead, and we plan to rescue her at the next eclipse."  
"This is all my fault." Vash said, starting to cry. "If I had taken better care of her, if I had kept my promise and my grip, and if-"  
"It isn't your fault." Rene said quietly. "It isn't anybody's fault. What's happened has happened, and you can't blame it on anyone. Being superheroes and helping others to thrive for the good does take many consequences, and risks, you know, and it's not always pretty business. But put up with it Vash, and get over it. It's already over. We can't keep looking back and blaming ourselves, we have to look forward to help her and plan ahead instead of looking back for impossible answers. Vash, do you understand? It's no use blaming yourself."  
This was the first time Rene had spoken to Vash, and the longest time to practically everybody. Vash nodded. Kelli smiled at him.  
"Let it go Vash." She said. "Rene is right. It's over, so let it go." Vash sighed, and looked at the ground.  
"We know it's hard." Kanari said. We all looked at him sadly.  
"Vash, are you healthy enough to walk?" Anora asked, talking our minds off of Nakita.  
"I think." Vash said weakly and got up shakily. "Wow, what happened to my burns?"  
"Yuki fixed them with cordial." Snowy said. "It works instantly. I remember when Doughboy was all stashed up when we captured the first jewel."  
"That was all so long ago." Doughboy said. "So much has happened."  
"It's not a long way, but it'll be fast if we fly." Anora said. "If you have the energy, that is."  
"We're all very tired." Liz said. "But I think we regained some waiting for Vash." She took a seat on Rene's broomstick, Vash took a seat in my wand, and we flew off. Anora opened the door for us and we dropped through to land on the grass in the park. The sun shone brightly and the door began to shimmer. To an ordinary person, it wouldn't even be there, but to us, we could see what looked like a faint mirage.  
"Oh, SNAP." I said. "What are we going to tell Mrs. Bowman?" I looked at Kanari, who looked at Vash, who looked at Kelli, who looked at Rene, who looked at Liz, and then Snowy and last Doughboy.  
"I never thought of that." Kanari said. "By golly, what ARE we going to do?"  
"C'mon Doughboy, you're good at making excuses." Snowy said. "Think of one, think." Doughboy scowled angrily.  
"The time you need him the most he backs out." Liz said. "How like him." Rene giggled and I checked my watch.  
"Only a quarter of an hour has passed since we were gone." I said.  
"This whole expedition of freeing the slaves was only supposed to take an hour at the max." Vash complained. "In advance, we should have stopped time."  
"If time traveled that slow while we were between the Fourth and Fifth Dimension," I started, "does that mean that right now, Nakita is going through fifteen minutes as we go through one?" Vash groaned ("Please, Yuki, don't mention Nakita, I can't bear it." "Oh, sorry Vash, I forgot.").  
"I suppose so." Anora said. "It makes perfectly good sense, I've just never bothered to time it."  
"Do you think they caught her?" Rene asked.  
"She made it to Uri, that's for sure." Kero said.  
"They must've gotten her, and locked her up." Kelli said.  
"Ransom." Doughboy said. "Then it's really not good."  
"We've GOT to get her back." Snowy said. "They could do ANYTHING with her. What do you think will happen? Quick, when is the next eclipse?"  
"I'm not sure." Anora said. "I never know until two days in advance."  
"I thought it was the same with the moons." Kelli said.  
"No!" Vash said. "We can't wait a couple of years!"  
"No, moons, as in Full Moon, Half Moon, not the eclipse of the moon!" Kelli said.  
"Oh." Vash said.  
"Of course not." Kelli said. "But that's still a very long time."  
Rene sighed.  
"Let's all go over to my house." She suggested. "It's big, and we have enough food to go around for a party, so we can eat, then rest, and then go plan."  
"Do you mother and you do much together?" Kanari asked. Rene shrugged.  
"Not much, I guess, she's really busy." Rene said. "I guess working in a toy factory is a big job for a boss." Liz looked around.  
"Does anyone have a suggestion on how we are going to get there?" She asked. Rene dug in her purse and ran to the side of the street.  
"Taxi!" She waved.  
"Do we actually HAVE taxis around here?" Doughboy wanted to know.  
"Of course." Liz said. "Where have you been?"  
"Oh, well, I've just never seen one." We walked over to the street and tried to fit into one taxi, but it was just too impossible. We had eight people and four seats.  
"Rene, you take Kelli, Vash, and Doughboy and go in the taxi." I said. "The rest of us can go (I nodded towards the sky) with you guys THAT way."  
"Oh, okay, but why does Doughboy have to come too?" She asked.  
"He's too slow." I said. "I'll take Liz, so don't worry." Rene nodded and hustled the rest of them into the taxi.  
I lead the rest of the group back into the park, a private area where we could spread out our wings and fly into the sky without being seen. One by one, we entered the sky. I thought Kelli looked very much like a raven, since her dark blue wings glittered black in the sun.  
We arrived at Rene's house hours later.  
"WHAT are we going to do?" Kanari asked, worried. Vash was pacing the floor.  
"Chill Vash, Kanari." I said, though I was as worried as they were. "I didn't know what to tell Mrs. Bowman. The truth popped into my mind, and if we had good proof (which, with our magic and all, we did) then she probably would believe us, but I didn't want to risk getting some outer force and people into this. So far, the only people who knew had magical powers themselves.  
"Ooh." Kelli said. "This IS bad."  
"We need to get Nakita back today." Doughboy said.  
"I'm afraid that's not possible." Anora said. "Just not."  
Worried looks traveled around the room.  
"Let's just tell Mrs. Bowman that Nakita is visiting some people out of country." I suggested.  
"We don't have her passport, and Mrs. Bowman would ask for their phone numbers." Doughboy pointed out, a hand on his chin.  
"Ooh." I said.  
"We need to make a fake Nakita." Rene said suddenly.  
"How?" I asked, because Rene was looking at me. "Oh, oh, oh!" Rene and I grinned and gave each other a high five.  
"What's going on?" Kanari asked.  
"Beats me." Vash said. "What IS going on?"  
"I have figured it out." I said, digging into my pocket. "Ha!" I pulled out a card. "Bow down and obey!" Doughboy, Liz, Snowy, and Kelli saw the card and started cheering. Vash and Kanari blinked.  
"The Illusion Card." Kanari read. "Oh, isn't that the card that?" She looked puzzled. Vash suddenly started cheering, but by that time everyone else had stopped.  
"He takes a little while to respond." Snowy said. "He's slow." Rene and I giggled, and explained what the Illusion Card did to Kanari, who may have forgotten.  
"That's brilliant." Kanari said. "Okay, so don't we have another problem?"  
"Did you say I'm slow?" Vash asked Snowy.  
"Oh!" Snowy said. "Look everyone, he just responded. Gosh Vash, you really MUST be slow!" Vash's face turned as red as a beet and some say that steam was pouring out of his ears. Snowy moved out of his way. "Now that's fast." She said.  
"The other problem." I said to Kanari. "Is how to get Nakita back. I personally don't think that's as bad as getting her mom to believe she's not gone. All we have to do is wait until the next eclipse, which is a week or something, I believe, and then rescue her."  
"It's not as simple as that." Kelli said. "We've got to devise a way to sneak up and find her. But this is not the time to plan, nor is there a way to plan without getting inside information, and getting information would just let us waster valuable time, since the time cycle in the worlds travel at different rates. So as soon as we get there, we will snoop around and find out a way to get back at them. There is no way we can predict anything, so let's all go home and rest up."  
"All right." Snowy said. "C'mon." All seven kids piled out of the door, and Rene shut it gently.  
"God Bless Us." Rene said after the door closed. "We'll need it."  
I walked to school the next day, and as soon as I got there, I saw Alicia by the band room where we usually meet.  
"It's only Alicia." I thought. "There's no reason for me to hurry." I passed a big tree and there was a rustle. I looked up and circled the tree, thinking it was Anora, but nothing appeared, so I just kept walking to Alicia, thinking I would say hi.  
But when I reached her, I was puzzled.  
She had blond hair. Yes, she looked like Alicia, but she was wearing weird clothes, Kanari clothes.  
"Kanari?" I asked. Kanari looked up.  
"Oh hi!"  
"Did you get a haircut?" I looked at her cut bangs.  
"No, they're just a few inches shorter." Kanari said sarcastically.  
"Ah, what happened to you?" I said, recalling she had said the same thing to me once.  
"That's mean." She said. I shrugged and told her my reason. "It's still mean."   
"It really couldn't be helped." I said, looking at her hair. "For one, I thought you were Alicia!"  
"Is that why you didn't come over here?" Kanari asked.  
"Yup." I said.  
"I was wondering." Kanari said. "You looked awful silly walking around that tree in circles."  
"I thought I saw Anora." I said. "And beside, if you were Alicia, I wouldn't be so interested in seeing her."  
"I see." Kanari said.  
There was sudden rustle in the bushes behind us and a girl stepped out. Her hair was dark blond, her eyes light blue, but there was something seemingly familiar about her face.  
"Nakita?" I asked. She grinned.  
"No way!" Kanari said. "Nakita has dark brown hair and dark blue eyes."  
"They dyed my hair." The girl said. "They tried to cut it off and dunked me into this pool and when I got up, my hair was this golden color. It's been washing off. Oh, I hope mom will be all right."  
"Where do you live?" Kanari asked. I wondered if Kanari was actually asking or just testing her.  
"Over there." Nakita pointed into the right direction.  
"Hm." I said. "Where's Vash?" I looked around.  
"Don't know." Kanari said. "Why?"  
"I have a surprise for both of you." I said. Suddenly I saw Vash and Kelli approaching.  
"Okay, everyone congratulate me and give me a hug!" I said.  
"What for?" Kanari said.  
"Oh boy, what is it this time?" Vash asked.  
"I made the IB school!" I shrieked.  
"The what?" Kanari asked.  
"Ooh, you did?" Kelli asked. "I did too!" Kelli and I realized the significance of this and started prancing around.  
"I'm going to Bartow too, but not the IB school." Vash said.  
"Okay, what the heck is going on?" Kanari demanded.  
"The IB school is a magnet school for 60 of the smartest kids. You get tested and they accepted Kelli and I. It's called the International Baccalaureate School and it's actually a school within a school. They're housed in Bartow Senior High." I explained to a furiously confused Kanari.  
"And I'm going to that high school, only not the IB school." Said Vash.  
"Because you weren't smart enough to get in!" Kanari finished grandly.  
"No, because I didn't want to test for it." Vash said.  
"Actually, you didn't turn in your registration form in time." Kelli whispered.  
"She doesn't need to know that." Vash said.  
"Vash probably could get in." I said. "He's got the brains, he's just too lazy."  
"Probably." Kelli said. Kanari kept her mouth shut.  
"Hey Yuki, wasn't the E-Team competition this weekend?" Kelli asked me, tilting her head.  
"Oh, yeah." I said. "Who wants to hear what actually happened? No more practices (I stretched my arms) Ah, the glory. It's going to be pretty strange, though."  
"So how'd it go?" Kelli asked.  
"We lost." I said simply.  
"Oh my gosh!" Kanari said.  
"Hey." I said, opening an eye (I was stretching with my mouth open and eyes closed). "At least I wasn't part of the team that said, 'We are the bomb. Totally. When it comes to E-Team, we rock!'"  
"Who said that?" Vash asked.  
"The other public middle school." I said certainly. "No names mentioned."  
"Tell us a little of it." Kanari urged.  
"Can you believe that the six graders don't even know how to spell equilibrium?" I asked. "And so we were just sitting there, and that was the first question! And I said, 'Who wouldn't know how to spell equilibrium?' and William Thomas goes and says sheepishly to me, 'I don't'. Now how is HE in the spelling bee? Of course, he doesn't spell mayonnaise manaze, but I've learned the correct way by now. He's been on E-Team for four years?"  
"How IS he in spelling bee?" Vash chuckled. "I almost made it."  
"You got 14/25." I said. "I graded your paper." Kelli and Kanari snickered.  
"And you got 13." Vash said. "Okay, so don't say anything!" The rest of us (including me) smiled.  
"William Thomas's spine was fractured a little." Kanari said. "I don't know if I told you or not, but he's having to go to the hospital. Just the other day, he almost had another car accident."  
"What?" Vash asked.  
"True." Kanari said. "He was walking across the street, saw no cars, and started fixing his braces. He thought he was moving but actually stopped in the middle of the road." Vash shook his head sadly, chuckling.  
"Why wasn't he hurt?" Kelli asked.  
"The guy stopped the car, but it crushed William's big toe." Kanari said. "I've learned he gets into a lot of these accidents."  
"I can see." Kelli said.  
"Well, enough with the talk." I said. "Let's find the others and tell them all the news!"  
Vash suddenly spotted the girl behind us.  
"Is that who I think it is?" He asked.  
"I don't know." I said.  
"What do you mean you don't know?" Vash asked.  
"She has Nakita's face, but not the hair nor the eyes. She says she's dyed her hair because the people at Uri made her do it." Kanari explained.  
"I've known her the longest and I still don't know whether that's Nakita or not." I whined. Vash put his hand up to his chin.  
"There's something familiar about that girl."  
"Duh, she's got Nakita's face, maybe?" Kanari suggested.  
"It's not that." Vash said. "I've met her before, when I was little."  
"That's what I was worried about." I said quietly.  
"What?" Kelli asked.  
"She might be a spy from Uri, and the real Nakita could still be out there."  
"How do we find out?"  
"We need to go on the expedition without her." I said. "And find the real Nakita."  
"But what if she's the real one?" Kanari asked.  
"We need to be sure of this somehow." Vash said. "And yet she looks so familiar."  
"Something fishy is going on." Kanari said. "I can sense it."  
"I guess." I said. "C'mon, let's go now. We're going to exclude Nakita from things. If she's not real, she will get worried, but she won't let it bother her so much."  
"And if she's real?" Kanari asked.  
"How can THAT be the real Nakita?"  
"You thought she was real at first." Kanari said.  
"Well, I was wrong. I don't believe that the real Nakita would dye her hair. Nakita loves her hair. And there's one last thing they forgot in constructing the fake Nakita."  
"So we're sure she's fake?" Vash asked.  
"Most definitely." I said. "Look at her ears."  
"Yeah?" Vash asked. "Hey, they don't have holes in them?"  
"Holes?" Kanari said.  
"Pierced ears." I said. "Nakita has pierced ears, though she almost never wears earrings."  
"Leave it up to Vash to notice Nakita." Kanari said. Vash elbowed her rather sharply.  
"There's no such thing as pierced ears on Uri." Kelli said.  
"That settles it." I said. "C'mon, let's go."  
"One last thing." Kelli said.  
"Go ahead." Kanari said.  
"Anora says the next eclipse is coming up soon." Kelli said as we walked away, leaving a shocked "fake Nakita". "We've all got to meet Friday. I must say that break was nice. But now? It's time for the main event."  
  
Okay, everyone, be mad at me because I put all my Digimon sequels and stories (and CCS) on hold to write another chapter...for whom?  
For this little kid whom we call VASH WHO WON'T REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!1  
Ah, that felt much better....Vash, please review, okay? Even Ulala did... 


	18. Journey to Uri

CCS does not belong to me.  
Okay, now, the next chapter of...Jewel Quest!  
  
Journey To Uri  
"Okay, we are here." Kelli said, under a tree in the park, looking up at the shimmering door. Vash rubbed his hands greedily.  
"What?" Rene asked. "Are you hungry? I have food." Rene started pulling out bread and jams and everyone stared at her. "What?" She asked.  
"Rene, you aren't going to carry all that into Uri, are you?" Kelli asked.  
"Of course I am!"  
"How are you going to battle?"  
"Well, I, um, uh." Rene stuttered.  
"Here, I have an idea." Vash said. "We'll all be hungry on the way, so let's eat some now and keep the rest in our pockets. There is no way we can carry the basket around."  
"Oh, all right." Rene said, spreading out a picnic blanket. The moon rose high ahead and an owl hooted.  
"Twenty more minutes." Anora said from above a tree. The door was becoming more and more visible.  
"I can't believe that Nakita was fake." Snowy said.  
"Huh, what, did I miss something?" Kero asked. Cherry was lying in my arms, limp. She missed Nakita. Kanari filled Kero in.  
"Oh, man." Kero said.  
"This is the moment we've all been waiting for." Kelli said after everyone had eaten and stashed food into their pockets. The door opened slowly. The dreaded door of the Fourth Dimension.  
"Let's go." Vash took a mighty jump and jumped as high as the treetops. He then took another one and jumped through the darkness of the door. Wings extended, streaking like a bullet, Kanari, Kelli, Rene, Snowy, and I followed. Liz hung on to Rene's broomstick, which she had held out for Liz. Doughboy and his bubble slowly rose. Kero flew in on my shoulder, Anora on Kelli's, and I was holding the frightened Cherry.  
Darkness filled up. There was nothing to see, nothing to mind. The door closed behind Doughboy. Anora jumped off of Kelli, sprouted her wings and flew, flew like the wind, as fast as she could.  
"Why do we always have to go this fast?" Doughboy asked. He was in his bubble, running, so that the pace of his bubble sped up to keep at the same pace the rest of us were going with our wings.  
"This is fun." Liz said, hanging onto Rene's broomstick.  
"Hang on tight." Vash said, who was also hanging on. He didn't have any wings. "If we let go, we fly out to nowhere." Snowy was helping Rene pull.  
"Don't worry." Kanari said. "If you fly out, Yuki and I will be here to catch you!"  
"Yeah." I agreed. "Hurry up Doughboy!" Doughboy grunted and tried to run faster.  
"There's something up ahead." Anora informed us. She had sonar power.  
"Something that shouldn't be up there?" Kelli asked. "Slow down the pace!" We tried to slow down, but we had built so much momentum that it was hard to slow down. Then we saw it.  
"Nakita!" Vash said. "Fake Nakita!" Fake Nakita threw herself in front of Snowy and Rene, causing the broomstick to swerve.  
"Ah!" Liz let go, and tumbled through space. She was drifting away at a very fast pace.  
"Gotcha!" Kanari said, grabbing her arm and trying to pull her back towards the rest of the group. It was hard work. The same thing happened with Vash, only Kelli managed to stop him.  
Fake Nakita came up to me.  
"Cherry!" She said, trying to pick Cherry up. Cherry squealed and I held her away.  
"We know who you are." I said.  
"I can't believe you would try to go on without me."  
"You aren't the real Nakita!" Kanari screamed loudly, causing everyone to jump. "If you were, you wouldn't act like this. If you were, you wouldn't have followed us here. You may have Nakita's memories, but you will NEVER be the real Nakita! Even Cherry here knows that you aren't real. So don't even try it!"  
The Fake Nakita realized her mistake and turned to flee back to Uri to notify her staff. Not a chance. We had already formed a circle around her.  
"We must destroy you." Vash said.  
"Would you?" Fake Nakita asked. She unhooked something behind her ears. Kanari screamed as the whole Nakita face came off and something with a very pale face and long nose was exposed.  
"Ew!" The rest of the girls said. The "monster lady" chucked her mast at one of the girls, which just happened to be Rene.  
"AH!" Rene called. Vash ran in front of her and snatched it away.  
"Ooh." Anora said. "Listen, we have to kill her and fast. The door to Uri has just been opened."  
"By whom?" Kelli asked.  
"By me." Anora said. "All I'm saying is that it can be opened now. This monster has two purposes. She'll get one if not the other. She will notify her staff or make us miss the way back."  
"How about we split into two?" I asked.  
"That would work." Snowy said. "A pretty good idea."  
"I have a bad feeling about this."  
"All of you go ahead!" Vash said. "I need to finish up some business here."  
"Do you know her Vash?" Kelli asked.  
"Don't you?" Vash asked. "Sure, she used to be prettier when we were little, but she's not all that bad now."  
"Who is she?" Kelli asked.  
"Lair, Daughter of the Earl of Gauds Land." Vash said. "She came and visited for a party when we were little, remember? No, I don't think you would, but I used to play with her all the time."  
"I remember." Kelli said.  
"How close are we to the door?" Liz asked.  
"Especially close." Anora. "It would be such a pity to miss it twice."  
"Ooh, get this over with!"  
"Atomic Shock!" Vash said.  
"Lady's Breath!" Lair sent a stream of black and blue blossoms flying at Vash.  
"Watch out!" Kelli said.  
"Golden Rings!" Rene fried many of the dark blossoms.  
"Sun beam!" Kanari held up her sun ornament, tapped it twice, and threw it up into the air. All the blossoms were suddenly gone. The Atomic Shock had gotten rid of the remaining blossoms and paralyzed Lair waist down. She cursed at them.  
"Avido!" Ribbons shot out of Snowy's wand and wrapped themselves around Lair and tied themselves in a tight knot. She fell down.  
"See? These ribbons aren't only for decoration!" Snowy said cheerfully, trying to get everyone's spirits up.  
"Kill her off." Kelli said.  
"I can't." Vash said.  
"Why not?" Kelli asked.  
"Because she used to be my best friend."  
"She's evil." Kelli said.  
"Yes, I know."  
  
"Someone else do it." Liz closed her eyes (it was okay, since Lair couldn't move) and plunged the sword towards her. There came a gushing noise and blood seemed to spew everywhere. Everyone ducked as Liz drew out the rapier and wiped it in the air. Blood droplets seemed to stay in the air.  
There was a howling noise.  
"Wind?" Rene asked.  
"C'mon, there isn't much time left!" Anora called urgently. Everyone got back into their original positions, only this time Kanari and I both took one of Doughboy's hands and pulled him. It was much faster. The door was already shrinking when we tried to get through. Fortunately, we all made it.  
And then, suddenly, we were zapping through the tunnel that we had seen earlier. The walls seemed to glow in hieroglyphics, except they were nothing like hieroglyphics, only another programmed code.  
"In this tunnel, you can change the whole path of the universe." Vash called.  
"How?" Snowy asked.  
"Well, one person can make a difference, just as one world can. If Uri disappears, it can upset the balance." Vash said. "There is also one to stop the suction of this tunnel to the other end. But until someone finds out how to remove the one with the suction, the course cannot be changed, since we are constantly moving towards Uri."  
"I see!" Snowy called.  
"What if I tried to go up and wipe one off the roof of the tunnel?" Kanari asked.  
"You'll find it's not possible." Vash said. "Try it!" Kanari flapped her wings furiously, but it didn't help her move up any.  
"You are centered to the center of the tunnel." Kelli informed us.  
"Oh, okay, I see!" Kanari said. "Hey, is it just me or are we speeding up?"  
"Speeding up." Rene said, clutching the side of her head and her broomstick at the same time.  
"I know." I said in a groggy sort of voice. "This is like the time I went to Islands of Adventures with some friends and they made me go on the Spiderman roller coaster. I HATE roller coasters." Several sets of eyes turned to stare at me. "What? I do! They make me so sick!"  
"Um, okay." Doughboy said, edging away from me (which he couldn't do because he was centered). "Please don't throw up on me now."  
We had reached the end of the tunnel.  
"Whatever you do, don't say ANYTHING." Kelli said. Doughboy would've usually made a joke towards the anything, but the situation was so tense that he even didn't say anything.  
Suddenly, out of darkness we appeared and fell into the light. And I mean literally fell, about fifty feet. When we looked around, I couldn't believe what I saw.  
Mounds of sawdust, as tall as double my height. There was little light, dim, orange light that filled up the place. I looked to see where we had come from. A saw a little hole, like a drainage pipe.  
"Quick, here!" Kelli pulled us into the shadows of the sawdust pile. I looked up at the hole again where we had fell through. "That's only one of the openings." Kelli said. "Uri rotates, like earth does, remember."  
"Okay." I said. "We came through that one?"  
"Yes." Vash said. "There's about five, and that was the only one connected to the Fourth Dimension today. But there is one specifically for rocket ships, by the queen's dome, and when they need to use ships, they go out of that one, out into orbit, and then circle back. This one is only large enough for the fattest man on earth."  
"Doughboy, Kanari, and I were able to squeeze through in a three." I said. We were all talking in whispers, without knowing why. And then Rene pointed at something over the sawdust pile. We climbed halfway up the sawdust pile and lay down, just so eleven heads, including Anora. I gasped.  
There were workers, chained up, and the queen's men, all dressed in uniforms of black with blue diagonal stripes, with big ruler like things, used to whip the workers.  
"What are they doing?" Rene asked.  
"Mining for gold and uranium." Vash answered. "Look at them work." It was very painful.  
"Are we supposed to rescue those black guys too?" She meant the queen's men by black guys. Vash nodded.  
"Look up there." He pointed. Far enough, right in front of us, a big mountain rose vertically, very vertically, and on the top, there was a dome. The Queen's dome, it must have been, however, you could see in it. There was a bright dim, yellow light inside it (where all the light comes in at night) and a bright white light, which looked like a diamond. "No bet on what that is." Vash said. "I've never seen that before."  
"Nakita?" Snowy suggested.  
"Maybe." Kelli said.  
"Is it night or day?" Liz asked, looking up. "I can't tell, all I can see is a bunch of hazy yellow clouds."  
"I'm not so sure." Vash said. "I've only been here a couple of times to the mines."  
"Mines?" Doughboy gulped.  
"Don't worry." Kelli said. "He means mining areas."  
"Oh, okay." Doughboy said. "Go on."  
"See up there?" Vash pointed up to the mountains. "It's larger than you think. I've lived up there my whole life."  
"I have to say, its not a beautiful place." Kanari said, looking around.  
"Maybe it is up there." I suggested.  
"It is, blue skies, green grass, and you can tell if it's night or day." Vash said. "It's high enough above all the smog pollution."  
"I'm already scared of this place." Rene said.  
"Don't be." Vash said. "We're going to be staying here quite a while."  
"We are?" I asked, worried.  
"Yeah." Kelli said. "But first we need an inside guide."  
"Guide?" Liz asked.  
"We need to know what's been going on lately."  
"Snatch a worker." Kanari suggested  
"Likely they don't know anything." Vash said. "And it would cause a lot of commotion if we grabbed one of the Queen's men."  
"We have got to get across to that dome without behind seen." Kelli said.  
"Are you sure it's really big up there."  
"Sure." Kelli said. "Lots of people live by the dome. The area on that plateau is about as big as one of your continents."  
"I wonder how big this planet really is." Doughboy said.  
"I guess." I said. "Are there any underground tunnels leading to the dome? Because I don't have my Illusion Card. It's still back home with Nakita."  
Vash and Kelli looked at each other.  
"Do they?" Vash asked.  
"Do we is more like it." Kelli said. "Soon it will be do they." Vash shrugged.  
"I think we do." He flipped through his pockets. "Let me see."  
"Um, I just realized something." Snowy said. "If we're going stay here, how are we going to get back?"  
"Huh?" Vash asked.  
"I mean, many days here is a week on earth, right?" Snowy asked. Vash nodded. "And the door is closed now. So we'll probably have to wait a LONG time until we rescue all these workers and Nakita, and then LONGER to wait for the door to open again, since the time in this world travels at a faster rate."  
"Not true." Vash said. "We can't come back to Uri at any time we want, but we can sure go to the Fourth Dimension all we want."  
"How?" Snowy asked.  
"Well, it's like this." Kelli explained. "Think of the Fourth Dimension as a round dome with only one door. Think of the worlds surrounding it. So you have a big circle and many little circles around it. Then each of the little circles has a door facing the big circle, and the big circle has only one door. The big circle moves, hence each little circle has a turn to let objects enter the bigger door, the Fourth Dimension." While she had been talking, Snowy had been drawing this in the sawdust pile.  
"Okay, but Uri has more than one door." Snowy protested.  
"And Uri rotates." Kelli finished. "The stars in the Fourth Dimension, the big circle, are used to navigate through the Fourth Dimension, the bigger circle."  
"Um, okay." Rene said. "But then, would've we have to wait in the Fourth Dimension for the door to rotate around to Earth?"  
"We didn't come through the same door when we went from Earth to the Fourth Dimension to Uri." Vash said. "Earth has a fixed door to the Fourth Dimension because Earth is the Third Dimension. Uri and all the smaller planets are in the Fifth Dimension."  
"Does it ever rain here?" Kanari asked. Everyone turned to look at her. Doughboy held out a hand.  
"Did you feel a raindrop?"  
"No."  
"Then what does this have to do with anything we're talking about?"  
"Well, this is all so confusing."  
"Yeah, but live with it." Doughboy said. "Want me to explain?" Kanari shook her head. "You'll never learn."  
"I get it." Kanari said. "I just don't want to talk about it anymore."  
"There's nothing more to talk about." Kelli said.  
"Yeah." Vash agreed. "I've found the map of the underground." Kelli blinked.  
"Where did you get that?"  
"Remember when we used to visit Clay the Elder when we were eight or nine?" Vash asked. "And he really like us, was proud of us and our bravery to sneak out of the dome to visit us? Well, he gave me this map one day when you were learning Spanish. Look. There are ways to go to the dome. But there is a great possibility that many people are wandering here. See the purple lines? There are hidden passages that no one has ever known about. They just look like walls, but you can actually go through them. No one can see you as long as you stay inside the barrier. There are several openings to go to these passages. This one seems to be very near us. We have to get to that other sawdust pile and then it's right beside the wall."  
"Vash, you're great!" Kelli said. "I'm so glad he gave it to us!"  
"I hope he's still here so we can thank him." Vash said. "And hush, not so loud." We were basically still pretty isolated, the closest workmen was fifty yards away.  
"We can try to make our way to that other sawdust pile." Rene said.  
"And we had to come behind this one." Kelli said. "I'm sorry."  
"We need a distraction." Snowy said.  
"No, then everyone would get suspicious." Doughboy said. "What we need is a disguise."  
"We could use my jacket." Rene said. "Or sweater, whatever you call it." She pulled it off. It was the color of the sawdust.  
"I've got a quicker plan." Kelli said. "Help me spread sawdust between the two mounds, little by little." The rest of us started to help by pulling a handful and placing it beside the big pile. The next second we had a small pile that we could crawl behind and not be seen.  
"Excellent." Snowy said as the two mounds were connected. We crawled across behind the pile and looked back. "Doesn't that look suspicious?"  
"Maybe so." Kelli said. She opened her mouth and made an o and said silently, Blow Hole and suddenly, the sawdust flattened itself. No one had seen.  
"C'mon." Vash said, looking at the wall right behind the sawdust pile. "It's right here."  
"But that's a brick wall." Liz said. Vash took her hand and pulled her in. The rest of us followed.  
"Wow." We said.  
"Be careful about talking." Vash said. "They can hear us. Just follow me and we'll be okay."  
"Do they have cameras in here?" Kelli asked.  
"Perhaps, but not in the 'hidden' passages." Vash said. "Look out there." Where the kids had entered, there was now what seemed to be a screen. "We can see out but they can't see in."  
"Whoa, awesome." Doughboy said, quietly.  
"That's how it's going to be when we cross passages." Vash said. It didn't look too much like a screen, on the second though, but like something covering it. More like looking from the inside of an illusion.  
"What if a guy was walking here and accidentally walked into the wall?" Snowy asked. Doughboy snorted, but we all quickly shushed him.  
"Sorry." He said.  
"It used to be that he would go through, but not now." Vash said. "Clay the elder used his magic to ensure that if you don't know it's here and if you weren't meaning to get there, you won't come here. His elders discovered it by accident and that's why he has the map."  
"Interesting." Rene said, biting into a piece of bread. She had spread out her food and was eating. Now that I thought of it, I was kind of hungry too. So we all sat down, ate, and then went on, following Vash.  
"I really hope we can get Nakita back." He said.  
"Yeah, me too." I said.  
  
Please review...If you do, the sooner I can finish writing all 32 chapters and go on to my sequel Black Magic! 


	19. Through the Underground

Walk walk, where will you end up?  
NOt much here, just a little traveling...not much fighting, which will come up soon, but it gives you an understanding of peace.  
CCS does not belong to me.  
And I think that by now, the story has become grusome enough that I'm going to make it PG.  
  
Through the Underground  
"Are we really going underground?" Rene asked suddenly. No one had spoken in such a long time it was weird to have the silence broken again. There were many things to talk about, but we didn't. Security was important. I had wondered the same thing. We seemed to be sloping, because here and there my ears would pop, but I could make them pop on my own too. We had started out level with the ground. Vash nodded, afraid to say anything. I clenched my fists, shaking all over, without knowing why. This was a nervous job.  
Suddenly, Vash stopped. We all looked in front of him. There was a huge pile of rubble. The ceiling had kind of started to cave in, and a huge bolder lay right in the middle of the tunnel. There was no way we could squeeze past it, lift it, or walk over it. For one, the ceiling might top over any second and for two, it looked very unstable. There was a hole in the wall, and another screen was there. There weren't screen's everywhere, only some places where you could go in or out. Rene pointed at the screen and Vash shook his head. Instead, he looked to his left, the opposite of the screen. There was a tiny pipe, which looked like a sewage drain. Vash touched the inside of it and showed us his finger. It was very clean, since no sewage had ever gone through it and dust couldn't get in. Still, we didn't know that and it looked like a dump to us. Cherry sniffed. I had almost forgotten I was still holding her. I rubbed my nose against the top of her head (three big, green leaves), since we weren't permitted to talk. Vash bent down and crawled into the drain. Kelli followed, and so did I. Doughboy blinked, looked down at his obese body, shrugged and followed too. It took him quite a while to squeeze in. Kero flew in after him, and managed to make his way to my shoulder, a much more comfortable spot. After him came Liz, Rene, and Snowy. Kanari looked dubious at going in, but didn't want to be left alone out of nowhere, so followed rather quickly.  
"We can talk now." Vash's voice seemed to echo. Cherry sighed with relief. "It echoes a little, but you can only hear it if you put your ear to the drain. It doesn't transmit."  
"You seem to know a lot about these passages." Kelli said. Vash looked at her slyly.  
"Well, I did come here sometimes when you were busy to explore." Vash said. "It was mighty fun." The tunnel widened a little. Doughboy sighed.  
"Uh, much better." Doughboy was crawling as fast as he could, and sweating a lot.  
"Better not crush me." Kero said. Doughboy growled.  
"Hey, think about me!" Liz said urgently. "I have to look at his butt." There came some giggling.  
"We've been traveling a long time." Rene said after the giggling stopped and was followed by a long line of silence. I looked at my watch.  
"Hey, it stopped." I said.  
"It does, because that's earth time." Vash said, digging into his pocket and crawling the whole time. Time was essential and he couldn't stop it crawling, because that would stop the whole line.  
"But the second hand isn't even moving." I protested.  
"Slow, yes." Vash said, pulling out a pocket watch. "It's four o'clock, and we've been traveling for almost two hours now, Uri time."  
"Wow, that's a long time." Liz said.  
"Yeah." Snowy agreed. "AM or PM?" Vash shrugged.  
"My watch doesn't tell." He said. "It has roman numerals."  
"Oh." Snowy said. "Too bad."  
"Oh, I'm tired and thirsty and my feet hurt." Kanari sat down. By now the tunnel was wide enough to sit down and for two people to crawl side by side, but of course that would've been very difficult, considering the fact that the tunnel was round. But at least now they could crawl on their arms and knees whereas before they had to with their arms. However, this left prints on their knees, because the tunnel was like a long garbage can; it had lines dented in and out. My point is, we could see her sitting down, taking off her shoes, and rubbing her feet.  
"Do you have a blister?" Vash asked gently. Kanari put her shoes back on and shook her head. "Then c'mon Kanari. I mean, we are sorry, but we're tired too and we have to save Nakita."  
"He has a point." Kelli poked Vash, who started crawling again. Kanari followed.  
"This is actually the long way." Vash explained as I passed Kanari a cup of water. "We were cutting under through the mines when we found that rock, so now we're circling until we reach the main sewer system."  
"The main sewer system?" Kelli asked.  
"Remember the dwarfs?" Vash said. "They used to come and visit us when we were little?"  
"How could I forget?" Kelli asked.  
"And they were hiding? Well, the main sewer is the place where they dwell. When we get to the end of this hole, it'll be wide enough to stand up, and then we will be able to jump out of this tunnel and only a walkway. There will be a walkway on each side, and a river in the middle. Don't worry Kanari; the water is clean, fresh, water the dwarfs use. There are houses of dwarfs on each side, where we can ask for food (don't worry, the dwarfs are our friends) and as we go along we will see other tunnels like the one we're in entering the main sewer, which the dwarfs call The Waterway. We can fill up our water, and then walk directly that way to the underground of the dome."  
"Why are the dwarfs in hiding?" Rene asked.  
"Well, because this was their land, but we took it over." Vash said. "They like us though. When they heard that Kelli and I were being sent off to the Third Dimension, they were mad, but we made up never to support Queen Jewel's cause and when we left they gave us presents." Vash smiled at the memory. "They're really nice. But they're scared of us, because they've seen the workers up there on the ground and don't want to be made like them. They know they will, and the sad part is that they're right. The Queen's men taught Kelli and me, but we were filled with the dwarf's wisdom, and we have ensured our trust. Kelli, you remember going through the waterway."  
"Oh yes, now I do." Kelli said. "But not through the tunnels. We did visit a lot too."  
"They're so afraid they won't even come out into the hidden passages." Vash said. "So when we go, we have to be very careful not to betray their secret accidentally."  
"What secret?" Kanari asked.  
"Where they are." Kelli said. "No one else knows."  
"Except Clay the Elder." Vash said. "Those are the only ones you can trust, Clay the Elder and the dwarfs."  
"They sound like nice people." I said.  
"From a fairy tale." Kero said, who had been quiet all along. I just noticed he had been sleeping on my shoulder. Cherry too was now sleeping.  
"Yes." Kelli said. "This adventure sounds like one too."  
"But it really happens." I said.  
"Okay, everyone sit up!" Vash said. The tunnel was getting higher. We sat up. "There's a great drop right now, to the Dwarf's land, though we still have to walk another quarter of an hour. When we make our way to the underground of the dome, we will be heading uphill."  
"That makes sense." Liz said. "That's if the water flows that way." She pointed to the right. Because until now, I haven't mentioned that when we took a left into the tunnel, we were actually going right on Vash's map. But if you don't understand the geography, forget it. That's not important. What's important is what happened next, and besides, you will know when we're at the center of Uri when we reach the dome (no, not the core of Uri, but what everyone calls the center because it is the center, main area of technology and things being done. I learned that bit from Kelli).  
"Okay, here comes the slide." Vash said. "Absolutely no screaming. It's very steep, but don't scream. Also, once you slide down there's no getting back up, so if you have any accessories, please bring them down first." Vash was eying some bread and jam lying beside Doughboy and Rene.  
"We can't have a picnic now." Kelli whined. "C'mon, let's go Vash. I think they get the point." Vash slid down, and he disappeared. Several seconds later, something flew up in the air. Kelli caught it. I could hear Vash saying,  
"Tape anyone's mouth shut if they start screaming."  
"Thanks, but I don't think anyone needs it. On the second hand." Kelli trailed off and I look a piece off and sealed Kero's mouth shut.  
"Don't sorry." I said to Kero. "I'll pull it right off when we get there." Kero nodded. Kelli threw the tape back at Vash, who caught it and beckoned for us to come down. Kelli slid down, and the rest of us followed quickly. Everything was fine (which means that jars of jam being thrown down from the cliff down was also fine) until it was Kanari's turn to come down.  
"Uh." Kanari said, looking down.  
"Kanari, it isn't that difficult." Vash called from the bottom. At the bottom, you were able to stand up and group together, since the tunnel was now as big as it would ever be.  
"It's also less crowded around here." Liz added. Rene nodded.  
"Even I came down!" She urged. Kanari whimpered and pushed off.  
"She's going to scream." Vash said. Kanari closed her eyes, clutched her stomach, and rolled onto her side and slide down. She landed a few feet in front of us and got up.  
"I." She said. "Am never doing that again."  
"And I thought I was afraid of roller coasters." I said.  
"Don't worry." Vash said, adjusting his glasses and looking at the map. We only have to go uphill and horizontally now."  
"Uphill?" Kanari gulped.  
"That so much to that extreme." Vash said. "More like a sloping uphill like we went through the first place."  
"Oh." The group started walking again. Kanari sighed. Her feet were hurting again.  
They walked for what seemed like a very long time, but was only half of what they had walked through the hidden passages. When at last, they came to the opening, they all breathed in for a breath of fresh air. I sighed.  
"Why is it so light in here?" I asked. "This is a tunnel. It's supposed to be pitch dark. Vash shrugged. This was the first thing he had failed to answer so far.  
"Beats me." He said. "Gee, I do wonder. But I'll ponder later. This way, please." He jumped from the opening. Kanari whimpered and I frowned. No another jump!  
But what seemed like another jump proved to be only a foot high, and all of us jumped off nicely, without any hassle. Well, at least not much hassle.  
"I'm okay." Rene said, handing us (the people who had already jumped) the jar of jam and the remaining slices of bread. Vash checked his watch. Rene jumped down, asking, "What time is it?"  
"Quarter to six." Vash said. "I kind of hope it is morning."  
"Why?" Liz asked, coming down.  
"Not sure." Vash said. "So I can do stuff and know my way around. The darkness won't help."  
"I wonder how this place keeps the lighting up." I said. "There are no lights."  
"Not in the tunnel, you know why?" Kelli asked. "There's a fog creeping in there, but it's so crowded and things are so close to you in the tunnel that you don't notice. Dwarf fog keeps things lighted up."  
"Interesting." Rene said. "They must save a ton on electricity bills."  
"Why do you care?" Doughboy muttered but no one heard him.  
"Weird." I said. "They have lights in the city."  
"The fog must get in the way." Kero suggested. Cherry chirped.  
"Aww, don't worry." Kanari said. "Nakita will be back soon. I promise." Cherry laughed gently and giggled. Kanari ticked her and she squirmed.  
"Okay, let's get on our way." Vash said, moving towards the city.  
"Again?" Kanari asked. "We move too much!"  
"Actually, we stop way too much." Kelli said. "We've got to hurry if we want to get anywhere. And we want to, to rescue Nakita."  
"Too true." Doughboy said. "C'mon." Kanari sighed and followed. She spent the rest of the way grumbling loudly. We sighed. It was some tiring trip to walk the whole way.  
"One question." I asked.  
"What is it now?" Vash asked.  
"Vash, that's not nice!" Kelli said.  
"Yeah." Snowy put in.  
"Okay, what?"  
"Well, when are we going to rest?" Vash shrugged and looked around at our surroundings. We were walking on one side of the walkway, and the walkway was hardly lined with houses like Vash had said, but that was probably because we hadn't walked far enough to the city yet. I guessed that there would be more than one dwarf city and was interested in learning their names. In the middle of the two walkways was a canal. Kanari went over, dipped her water bottle in, and got a drink. The rest of us followed. Vash looked at Kelli and sighed.  
"Okay, but last break and stop before we get to the city." He said.  
"Why couldn't we just fly?" Rene asked, drinking.  
"Well, before, the ceiling wasn't high enough, but now, I guess." Vash was looking at the roof of the walkway. It was about as high as a regular school's gym, had lights on top. I offered Vash some water. After he graciously took it, he wiped his mouth and said,  
"Here's the plan."  
"Let's hear it." Kanari said.  
"Let me talk." Vash grunted. Kelli patted his back.  
"Vash is getting tired, so don't mind him." She said. We grunted, and so did Vash.  
"Okay, we are going to see the dwarfs, and then ask them whether it is day or night. Then we are going to sleep." Vash said.  
"Sounds interesting." Snowy said. "I can't wait."  
"To rest up for our surprise attack."  
"What if it's the middle of the day?" Liz asked.  
"Then we attack anyways." Vash said. "We can't wait. And if you mean the middle of the day right now, we rest and attack at night."  
"Sounds good." Doughboy said.  
"We'll finish our rations of food and then ask for some tomorrow." Vash said.  
"Some what?" I asked.  
"Breakfast, of course." Vash said. "One last thing: Our mission is to get Nakita back and free these workers. While you've all been nicely resting at home, Kelli and I have bought a new planet."  
"Bought?" Kanari asked.  
"Yeah." Vash said. He whispered, "With Queen Jewel's money. I wonder how long it'll be when she notices it's gone (knowing Queen Jewel, no one said, 'That's mean' or anything). We will take the workers there after and let the Dwarfs rule this planet like they were meant too."  
"Vash?" Rene asked. "When you, I mean us, finish this mission, where will you and Kelli return?"  
"To Earth, I believe." Kelli said, grinning at Vash, who nodded.  
"It would be weird if we suddenly disappeared and right after we got all the passports straight." Vash said. "We're going to stay. Queen Jewel and all her men are going to be destroyed, workers on their planet, and Dwarfs on Uri, so there will be no place we will stay. We probably will be welcomed to these places, but Earth is now and for ever our home."  
"Yay." Rene said, smiling. Vash smiled too.  
"Oh." Vash said. "Which reminds me, behave yourselves. We've got a reputation to uphold." And with that he started marching towards the city.  
"Since when did he become our leader?" Doughboy grunted, bringing up the rear.  
  
PLEASE REVIEWTHAT GOES TO YOU, MAINLY, VASH!!!!(SINCE YOU GO ON THE INTERNET SO MUCH, READ MY STORIES WHENEVER THEY'RE AVALIABLE, BUT NEVER REVIEW, AND DON'T TELL ME FIDO STOPPED YOU...)  
Also, Vash, I burnt the kettle writing this...I forgot about it and overcooked the water by an hour. All the water had become steam and the pot was melting. We don't have a whistling one, that's why. And the door was closed. And it was smoking. ALL THE MORE REASONS FOR YOU TO REVIEW!!!! 


	20. Dwarf Land

CCS does not belong to me...ooh, interesting nane and chapter.  
I won't say what happens! Don't believe in spoilers (actually, yes I do, but just read for yourself)!  
A very interesting chapter...yes, I've already said that, now read and review!  
  
Dwarf Land  
We were in the dwarf's land. There was a slight humming as we approached. Vash seemed to be in perfect harmony with the place. Kelli too seemed relaxed, but concerned for the rest of us, who were a little afraid and scared: We had never been here before.  
As we walked through the streets, many dwarfs looked at us. Most of them were women, doing their daily shopping. There were dressed in typical dwarf clothing, and they were very short, only about four feet high: the usual height for a dwarf, explained Vash.  
I would like to describe their clothing a little more, however, there was almost no way I could. They were dressed in a tough, leathery material on the top, with no sleeves, green, tight pants, with matching green shoes and hats. Their hats were long, hanging down their back and their shoes were curled up with little balls at the tip of their shoes and hats. These were men's clothes. The men walking down the street seemed to have a bow and a quiver full of arrows on their back  
The women had much nicer clothes. Their dress consisted of a great blue or blue dress with an apron draped over it, much like an Alice in Wonderland dress.  
"I'd love to own one of those." Rene said, looking at them.  
"You can go shopping after we save the world." Vash said, walking rather quickly as everyone on the road stopped to stare at the kids, who were just as interesting in the dwarfs.  
"Where are we going?" Liz asked, running every step or two to catch up with Vash's powerful stride.  
"To the mayor's house." Kelli said. "Vash is going to tell him our plan, and while we do our ambush, he will prepare his troops, and afterwards, when the battle (as in two hundred of the Queen's men against us) begins, after our ambush, we will have the dwarfs to help us."  
"The dwarfs won't be too happy if we tell them our plan now." Vash said. "After we win, they will, but they won't like to hear that we plan to risk their lives along with theirs when we attack. They can live happily down here, free to their own extent, without anyone getting killed, but for now, they like it better down here than up there. Once we get rid of the queen and her men, the tables will shift, believe me."  
"So how sure are you that the mayor will agree to your plan?" Rene asked, hopping to keep up with Vash.  
"Because I know him." Vash said. "He is the descendant of Clay the Elder."  
"Really?" Snowy asked. "So he's human?"  
"More of a mix." Vash said, running now. "C'mon, we have to time to waste." With all the dwarfs staring, most of us were more than happy to run. Vash led us to the mayor's office.  
The major's office was a very spectacular house that you couldn't miss. It looked like a Victorian house right out of nowhere, surrounded by cottages. The smell of the cottages surrounding the house warmed the kids.  
"Food!" Kanari said.  
"Hmm, baked apples!" Rene said.  
"Look, that lady's doing her laundry!" Snowy pointed out. We all gathered at the fence to watch the pieces of clothing she put up with clips.  
"Wow." Doughboy said. "You know, this is a very interesting place. I'd like to study the Dwarf's Land when we grow up."  
"Perhaps one day we can come back." I said. "It's a beautiful place."  
"Yeah." Doughboy agreed.  
The mayor's house had a big lawn and several trees, only the trees were leafless, and there were several dead, dry, crumpled leaves on the ground.  
"It must be autumn." Rene said.  
"That's strange, isn't it?" Liz asked. "It's spring where we live."  
"When the little circles rotate around the big circle, they must change seasons too." Kelli said.  
"But not that fast." Kanari argued.  
"Remember, time travels at different rates." Vash said. "What takes an earth week to move can take a Uri year."  
"How long IS a Uri year?" Kero asked.  
"Around four hundred, sixty-eight days." Vash said.  
"Wow." Rene said, amazed.  
"Are we ever going to go in?" Kanari asked, looking at the black gate. Vash's hand actually trembled as he opened the gate for all of us.  
"It's been such a long time." He said. Kelli nodded. We started to head up the walkway.  
"Oh, my watch just ticked!" I said. "A second has past since we left the Fourth Dimension."  
"Really?" Rene asked.  
"So the Fourth Dimension time isn't the same as Uri." Liz said. "How peculiar."  
"How interesting." Doughboy said.  
"We've been gone from earth for fifteen minutes, exactly." I said. "I think time in the Fourth Dimension travels faster than Earth."  
"Possibly." Anora said. I had forgotten she was still with us and was shocked to hear her voice. Like Cherry, she had been sleeping the whole time and had just woken up. "That's the one thing I'll have to do when we get back."  
"What?" Doughboy asked.  
"Time it."  
"In math, the Fourth Dimension is time." I said. "So it does make sense it would be the Fourth Dimension which travels faster." We walked up the steps of the great Victorian house, which I now thought to be a mansion ("Wow, I think this is even bigger than my house!" Rene said). "And Fifth Dimension would be space travel, makes sense, moving from planet to planet."  
"We've heard this lecture already." Kanari said as Vash rang the bell. The conversation was cut short as a small, bald headed, and jolly old man opened the door.  
"Well, hello there! Who do we have here?"  
"Mr. Clay?" Vash asked.  
"Oh, my, Vash!" Mr. Clay (Clay was actually his first name, but Vash had called him Mr. Clay since he was little and the name sort of stuck) said. "It sure has been a long time. Good to have you back! And you brought friends, too!"  
"Yes, sir." Vash said. "Is Clay the Elder still here?"  
"Yes." Mr. Clay opened the door and led them to the living room. Clay the Elder was sitting on a rocking chair, smoking a pipe. Vash ran forward and knelt down before him, followed very closely by Kelli and Anora.  
The rest of us looked at each other. It might have been polite, but we didn't know him yet (and, actually, not bowing was the right thing to do).  
"Vash, Anora, Kelli." Clay the Elder said. His voice seemed to croak ad squeak, but you knew you were talking to someone with wisdom and trust. Clay the Elder smiled.  
"Have you fulfilled your destiny?" He asked.  
"To you, yes, to Queen Jewel, never." Kelli rippled. "These are our friends." She introduced us one by one, and each of us went up to either curtsey or bow (Doughboy was the only one who bowed, since he was a gent.). "We have come back to return the land to the nobles, the dwarfs."  
"God Bless you." Said the old man. "Clay, prepare the troops at once."  
"What troops?" Mr. Clay asked.  
"They're planning an ambush, aren't you?" Clay the Elder's eyes twinkled. "There's nothing I don't know. When word leaks out about the attack on the Queen's dome, there will be nothing else to do but for them to fight all those man. While they fight the knights (I suppose he means Galdius and Lumbeus and all my other brothers. Well, not brothers, I wasn't the child of Queen Jewel, thank goodness, but all her slaves, her two sons, Galdius and Hermz, and some of my "sisters" who may know how to fight, Vash thought.) we will fight the army."  
"Makes sense." Mr. Clay walked out of the room.  
"Yuki." Clay the Elder said. "You have the Crystal Ball."  
"Why, yes." I said, presenting the globe that Ms. Jewel had given to me. Clay the Elder smiled.  
"What do you see?" I concentrated on the ball. At first, nothing happened. Then I began to see orange dots on the ball. Suddenly, purple static electricity began to form and rotate around the ball. Then, I felt blinded. I could no longer see the others or Clay the Elder. I learned closer to the ball. Instead, I could see something being played.  
"The Battle." I murmured softly. Clay the Elder, Vash, Kelli, Kero, and Anora all leaned closer to hear what I was saying. "Galdius, first, holding the flag, the flag of the Queen, not Uri. He represents the Queen, not Uri, galloping on a black horse, as fast as he can, charging, leading his knights, a whole bunch of people, and then the army. The knights are of four boys and two girls. The four boys would be Lumbeus, Galdius, Hermz, and Lyair. The girls are Jade and Lair."  
"Lair." Vash said. "That means she's gotten free."  
"Should we go back and try to stop her?" Kelli asked.  
"No use." Vash said. "But how did she get back here? The gate closed! Are you sure it's Lair."  
"Sure, Lair, yes, it is she." I said, still in a daze. "They rescued Lair after our ambush."  
"Oh, okay, go on." Kelli said.  
"The flag Galdius has is with a scorpion with a green background." I said.  
"The third best flag." Vash whistled. "This means that this is our third big battle."  
"So many of them." I said, meaning the army. "So many, compared to all of our dwarfs. And we have all the dwarfs we could have had. Oh, but look! Half of our army of dwarfs is on the back of the hill. Why? Strange, why don't they have swords and are ready to fight. Oh, my, they have arrows."  
"Dwarfs are deadly archers." Vash said. "From the hill, they probably can shoot half the army."  
"Unless the army puts their shields up." Kelli said. "But then, they will have to stall, and it will be harder to move towards of dwarfs. Then the archers will aim for the legs."  
"Ouch." Liz said.  
"As soon as the two armies get close enough, there is nothing else the archers can do but take out their swords and charge." Kelli said.  
"Oh. Liz said. I twitched and suddenly snapped out of the daze.  
"Ow." I said, rubbing the side of my head.  
"Are you all right?" Snowy asked. I nodded and rubbed my temple.  
"It hurts." I whined.  
"She used a lot of energy." Clay the Elder said, picking up the globe from the table and handing it back to me. "Use it wisely."  
"What happened?" I asked.  
"When she gets used to this, she will remember her illusions of the future better." Clay the Elder said. "Now, someone explain everything to her and I'll get some beds and food for you. Tomorrow we'll all go shopping and get ready for the ambush."  
"Please, can you tell us what time of the day it is?" Vash asked, pulling out his pocket watch. "Mine doesn't say. It only tells the time."  
"Tis be the morning." Clay the Elder said. "But the time of the day doesn't matter in the Underground."  
"Too true." Vash said. "That means we got here in the middle of the night and traveled her in the night."  
"I must be exhausted." Kanari yawned.  
"That actually makes sense." Rene said. "We left the Third Dimension, Earth, at night too."  
"Oh." Liz said. "You're right. I'm surprised we didn't feel all sleepy whatsoever."  
"I'm afraid you'll have to adjust to the sleep during day and fight during night pattern for your ambush." Clay the Elder said. "Until those three great battles, that is."  
"We must be spending a long time on Uri." Kelli said. "This battle must've been harder than we thought."  
"Well, little Clay has sent forty men out to post flyers throughout town." Clay the Elder said. "It doesn't take that long. Dwarfs are good at war, and with a few touch-ups, we can join you at the battlefield."  
"Clay, why are you living down here instead of in your hut on the top of Jade Mountain?" Vash asked. Clay the Elder sighed.  
"It's a very long story, dear Vash." He said. "Rest up first, youguns, and I'll tell you the story at dinnertime. Anyone hungry now?" Since everyone had eaten, they weren't hungry (they would've been, especially Doughboy, if they had known about the food they were going to eat), and Clay the Elder sent them to bed.  
"Sleep well." Clay the Elder said as eight pairs of legs, followed by a Kero, Anora, and Cherry (who had attentively listened but not talked) walked up the stairs.  
"Yuki, when you gazed into the ball and saw us fighting, did you see Nakita with us?" Vash wanted to know.  
"I don't know." I said. "I don't remember." Vash sighed. Kelli put a hand on his shoulder.  
"I know Vash, we'd all like to know if she's come back to us or if we've saved her yet."  
"What excitement she's missing." Kanari said.  
"Whatever she may be doing right now." Vash replied. "We can be sure it's much more gruesome and fighting that what we're about to experience. Poor Nakita." There was no more talking. Vash looked on and walked up the stairs with deadly eyes. Yes, he regretted what he did, but there was no time for regretting, only for planning to get Nakita back. Vash gritted his teeth. These plans had better work. He wondered how vulnerable they were without one person and looked around.  
Kelli, his sister, was right beside him, comforting everyone. Yes, Kelli and Anora would mean a lot in helping. Especially his and Kelli's wonder attacks and Anora's power to swoop down and scratch someone's face, just like a raven or a hawk.  
Yuki followed them, with her globe under her jacket and her cards in her pocket, along with her Sealing Wand, which was attacked to a string around her neck. She was wondering the same thing, and was wondering if what Ariel had said to her a long time ago was still valid, "You are the most powerful of them all, hence I will destroy you!" She hoped she was still of use to the team.  
Her buddies, Snowy, Liz, and Doughboy followed behind. They all had their weapons minimized.  
Snowy's wand was in her hand, though, and her spell book was on a chain tied to a belt loop in her pants. She had her hair tied up the same way as always, and her hands seemed to be twitching to show off all the new spells that she had learned. Snowy and Yuki would sure come in handy. They had a wide range of attacks.  
Liz, on the other hand, had her sword pinned as the brooch on her collar, and Vash imagined her with her lightning quick rapier. He longed to go back into the Queen's Dome and find the sword he had loved and practiced with. He signed as he remembered that long, light blue sword with green scorpions crawling on the side. Yes, he hated scorpions. But that could be changed. Kelli had a sword to, a dark blue one, with patterns of violet flowers on them. Both, in his mind, appeared to be stained with blood. But he knew they were clean. It was a ritual to clean a sword after use, use in killing, that is. He would borrow a sword from Clay the Elder and train Liz up to her standards a little more. She needed to know what it was like.  
Doughboy. Vash didn't know about Doughboy. From what the girls had told him, he had a Link attack, an attack that told him where to find things, but which was no longer in use. His pendant hung on his neck, the pink pendant. Yuki and Snowy had told him the story of how it got there, how they brought it for him and forced him to have it. Vash knew Doughboy would have rather had a basketball or soccer ball. Vash also knew that Doughboy had a memorization attack that changed someone's memory, something that might come in handy during the battle. But he knew nothing more. Doughboy was very mysterious in his ways, and whenever he practiced his magic, he made sure no one knew about it. Also, Doughboy didn't like Vash. He wasn't sure why. Vash knew that Doughboy hadn't like the fact that he had been evil and part of Queen Jewel's army, the fact that he had tried to steal Jewel's from him, the fact that Vash became leader of the group, or because Vash let go of Nakita. Closer to the last one. Doughboy had intentionally gotten nastier since the last incident, and then, when Vash (according to all the girls) had become the leader, they both cut off the communicating business whatsoever. Vash was sorry for all the things he'd done, and he hadn't meant them to end up like that, but Doughboy seemed to think there was more behind all this. He seemed to think that Vash was a traitor. But Vash knew there was something else behind it too.  
He shook his head and turned to Rene. Rene, he wondered what she could do. He had seen Snowy in battle, and wondered if Rene was any good with Snowy's old weapons. Little did he know that for the past week since Nakita's disappearance, all the kids had been practicing, and Snowy had been coaching Rene. Her Golden Ring and Power Hoops had gotten pretty good, as he observed in the Fourth Dimension when they came upon Lair. He wondered if there were any other attacks than that.  
But the good thing was that most of them could fly. He wished desperately that him and Liz could fly, but that was impossible. Without the powers for the two of them to fly, the rest of the group would have to remain on the ground during battle to ensure safety to the two of them-and Vash knew that his friends (exclude Doughboy for a second, Vash had to think about that) would do that. Doughboy had the lousy float option, which came in handy, considering the fact that it was a shield to enemies -if you attacked him with spears, they would bounce right off-unless you were on the same side. If we accidentally hit Doughboy, Vash reasoned, he would experience much pain.  
And last there was Kanari. Excluding Nakita, Kanari couldn't do much, according to his knowledge. Apparently, until Ms. Jewel came along, Kanari and Nakita couldn't do anything but hang around and keep an eye out. He knew that Kanari had a sun with the attack Flash, which blinded people, up to twelve. That might be powerful.  
And Nakita, when and if she came back (no, Vash slapped himself, not if, when!!) she had the Bells, whatever they did. Personally, he thought that it affected someone's hearing and made him or her deaf. That way, if both Kanari and Nakita affected you, you would be in a very unfortunate position.  
Vash looked at Kero next, since he had already though about Anora. Kero was sitting on Yuki's shoulder. Yuki would transfer him to Cerberus, no problem about that, not at all. They didn't need to worry about Kero. And Cherry, well, Vash frowned. He wondered what Yuki would do, whether she would let Cherry battle or not. So far, Cherry had no known attacks, and was little, feeble, and seemingly fragile to the harsh world. Yuki had grown quite fond of the little thing, almost as fond as Nakita had. Cherry often whimpered for Nakita, though, and it broke everyone's heart. But to leave Cherry with the dwarfs was unthinkable. She'd think we were abandoning her, and maybe get sick. He wondered whether Nakita would have let the little thing battle and whether Yuki could battle at all with Cherry's burden. It was surely a problem. He would advise Yuki to talk over the matter with Clay the Elder at dinnertime.  
Vash sighed in relief. Yes, one person did mean a lot. But he was pretty confident of their status. They should be able to win. But what did those three battles and no Nakita in Yuki's globe ball mean?  
  
What will happen? The next chapter is called Preparations, where they prepare for the battle and get everything, and explore the Dwarf's Land more. Please Review! I'm sorry for any insults I've caused anyone (*cough, which sounds oddly like Vash*). 


	21. Preparations

There are two important things in this fic that you should know, so READ THIS:  
Okay, number 1, the usual, CCS does not belong to me.  
And number 2, the money symbols in this fic don't show up as they were supposed to...but I can assure you, they were really funky looking!  
Vash: *coughs and pulls pipe away from his mouth* I think Clay the Elder gave me pot. I brought some essense smell thing and it's making me high, so that must be pot too. Now I'm sure I'm on Mary Jane.  
Yuki: *blink* Vash, you're sure that you and everyone else is on crack, so just quit it for once and read this fic and review.  
Kelli: Besides, it's very healthy for you. That's how Clay the Elder lived until he was a hundred.  
Vash: *?* By smoking Nymph Grass?  
Kelli: *nods* Yup  
Yuki: I like the pipes and the smell and the smoke that pour out of it.  
Vash: *wipes some white, clay stuff off of his shoes* It's leaving traces on my shoe...  
  
Preparations  
There was a dim light peeking in the curtains when I woke. Kero was snoring loudly, and drifting in the air. I caught him and put him back on the bed, and then walked over the window. I half expected to see the sun. Instead, I saw green grasses, flowers, smooth lawns, and sighed.  
What a beautiful place.  
Away from the noisy life of the city, the mayor sure had a nice house. I looked at my watch. We had slept two Earth seconds. I shrugged. Earth seemed so far away at the moment I almost didn't are about the time. Looking at my watch was just a habit.  
Cherry stirred and I looked around. Kanari was sitting on her bed, rubbing her eyes. Snowy and Liz were already gone. Kelli was just walking out the door. I signaled to Kanari and we followed.  
"I'm so tired." I said.  
"Yeah, this adjustment thing sure is rough." Kanari said, yawning and trying to straighten her clothes. "Imagine sleeping in these."  
"At least we didn't have to wear Rene's costumes this time." I said. Kanari nodded as we followed Kelli down a flight of stairs.  
"Yes, and thank goodness." She said. "Imagine sleeping in that. Oh, I just hate sleeping in something I wore that day."  
"I hope we don't stink." I said. Kelli giggled slightly.  
"You guys worry too much!" She said, covering her mouth. "I mean, come on! How often do we get to do this anyways?"  
"What, climb through sewers and systems?" Kanari asked. "I think I've had enough, thank you."  
"I personally don't think the sewers are bad." I said. "It's just the not changing or washing part I don't like." Kanari and I exchanged glances.  
"Oh, c'mon, quit whining!" Kelli said. "Clay the Elder is taking us to town to buy all the stuff we need to prepare for our ambush."  
"All right, really?" Vash asked, hopping down the stairs. He slid down the banister and stopped in front of Kelli. "Do you think he'll buy me a sword?"  
"Probably not." Kelli said, giggling. "You'll probably get one of Mr. Clay's, but really, nothing's as good as the Lovely Violet and Blue Mist."  
"I can't believe my sword's named the Blue Mist." Vash said, walking down to the Dining Room for "Breakfast", since it was morning, and they had just gotten up. The three girls giggled.  
"Well, I think I'm getting in the spirit now." I said. Kanari laughed.  
"We slept for three hours." Vash said, pulling out his watch, which now said eleven thirty.  
"Wow, I rally feel refreshed." Kanari said, stretching. "Let's go." We entered the Dining Room.  
Liz and Snowy were at one end of the table, having a low frequency conversation and trying to remain decent. It must have been hard, looking at the other side of the table.  
Clay the Elder was sitting with his chin in his hands, his eyes glowing has he watched Doughboy stuff the fortieth pancake in his mouth. Doughboy's whole face was smeared with bits of pancake and syrup.  
"Err." Vash and the rest of us sweatdrop.  
"Oh, hello there!" Clay the Elder said, waving a hand. "Your friend here sure has a great appetite! He came down here an hour ago and hasn't stopped eating yet!"  
"Tell me about it." I said. The four of us didn't budge.  
"He's had around sixty." Clay the Elder said. "Never in my days have I seen anyone eat that many pancakes. Must be a record! Someone fetch me the Book of Records in the library." Liz got up, glad to go. "It's in the place where you came in yesterday, dear!"  
"But that was also today." Kanari protested. "It's still the same morning."  
"I call it another day after a nap!" Clay the Elder said. He laughed. Doughboy sputtered and swallowed the last of his pile of pancakes.  
"Actually." Doughboy said, and then drank the whole cup of juice (Doughboy has a problem with digesting milk, I figured that out phoning him once). "That was my eighty-third pancake." Vash, Kelli, Kanari and I all took a face fault. Snowy stared.  
"You aren't serious, are you?" She asked. Doughboy nodded.  
"Well I best ashamed of me self." Clay the Elder said, laughing and stroking his long beard. He got to his feet and found a pipe. "Vash, do you want one?"  
Vash blinked. Never in his life had he been offered a pipe before, though he had seen Clay the Elder smoke it before.  
"Don't!" Kanari and I hissed. "It's bad for your lungs."  
"Sure." Vash said, walking forward (edging away from the table to avoid a mess where Doughboy had sneezed up some of the twelve pancakes that had been in his mouth at the time) and getting his pipe.  
Clay the Elder opened a can on the nearby shelf and pulled out what seemed to be blue colored grass. He stuffed some in Vash's pipe and in his own and lit two matches. He handed one to Vash and popped one in his pipe.  
"Light it when you're ready." He told Vash. Then, as if changing his mind, he handed Vash the whole package of matches. "On the other hand, eat first."  
The four kids sat down (incredibly far away from Doughboy, right beside Snowy, since you had no idea how big the table was (actually, it was a long table that could sit around twenty to thirty people)) and started to eat, very fast, since they wanted to lose no time. A maid came in and cleared Doughboy's mess ("Aww, poor maid, I'm going to help her later." Kelli said. "Are you crazy?" Vash asked. "Pick up after Doughboy? We have a job to do!" "Yeah, but the poor maid, and she has to do so much." Kelli trailed off. Vash scowled. "I see your point." Kelli said. "Oh, all right.")  
Liz came back with the book, a huge book, and Clay the Elder, with his pipe smoking, flipped through the book. The problem was, Clay the Elder was cradling the book in his lap, and the pipe, well, let me describe the pipe first, then you'll understand better.  
It was one odd pipe. Looking exactly like one of our pipes, it also resembled a ladle more than a pipe. The blue grass and fire created some sort of a white smoke that smelled incredibly good, but, unfortunately, was filling the whole room. And as where smoke generally went up, this one came out of the scoop like an overflowing, bubbling soup in a cauldron and spilled over, going down to the floor. So soon we couldn't see our feet at all, since the "smoke" covered the floor. The thing was, even though Kanari and I had been complaining about regular smoking a few days ago, this was a very pleasant experience for everybody. It smelt very good, and Clay the Elder was very content with his pipe.  
"It must be very heavy." I reasoned. Kanari nodded and sighed.  
"Gives you a very peaceful setting and mind." She said. We watched the smoke in the pipe spill over. The whole problem in reading the book was this: the smoke kept spilling on the book, and even though it slid right off and left no marks, more kept replacing it and Clay the Elder couldn't read. Thus he had to put his pipe down to look up the record. Doughboy was sitting at the end of the table, clutching his stomach. When he put it down, the smoke stopped and the smell hung in the air only a little while longer. The smoke at our feet thinned out a little too. Only the ladle of the pipe remained white. Looking at Vash's pipe, it did the same thing.  
"Wow." Snowy said, amazed. "These pipes are very interesting. I'd like one to scent my house instead of buying all that perfume and stuff."  
"Someone would think your house was on fire because of the smoke." I said.  
"And besides." Kelli added. "Pipes are not a ritual for girls." She glanced at Vash, who had finished eating and was eyeing the pipe. "Are you going to try it, Vash?"  
"I don't know." Vash said, picking the pipe up. "It's warm. Must be nice on a cold day." Doughboy sniffed.  
("Must be jealous Clay the Elder didn't offer him one." Snowy said, smiling. Kanari and I giggled.  
"Must be." Kanari said. "Vash is Clay the Elder's pet.")  
"Well." Clay the Elder said. "The record in the whole Five Dimensions is two hundred and twelve pancakes in forty five hours." Clay the Elder sighed. "And I was so hopeful. Well, you can't beat the nymphs." He meant about the smoke pipe, because it had gone back to his mouth, and he was talking about the taste (if you haven't noticed, you suck and you puff at the pipe and blow some more), but Doughboy thought he meant the pancakes and sniffed.  
The rest of the guests in the room giggled, all having read books about nymphs, though everyone thought they were imaginary.  
"Do you know what they're called, Vash?" Clay the Elder asked as Vash put his pipe to his mouth.  
"What?" Vash asked.  
"Depends what you put in it." Clay the Elder said. "We are smoking Nymph Pipes at the moment. Though I wish they wouldn't call them pipes."  
"Yeah." Kelli agreed. "What a lacking word." Clay the Elder smiled. Vash put the pipe in his mouth and sucked. He immediately took the pipe out and started coughing.  
"Vash, you suck for the taste, unlike smoking." Clay the Elder said. "It's very nitrous and goes right to your stomach. Try again." Vash reluctantly put the Nymph Pipe back to his mouth. Doughboy giggled. Vash did better the second time, and when he blew out, a cloud of white flew at the girls.  
"It smells good." Kanari said. We giggled as Vash blew out circles.  
"Tricks are also possible." Clay the Elder said with a smile. "Now, we must get on with the show." Vash's smile left his face briefly. He was just having fun. Clay the Elder noticed the change immediately. "No one said you couldn't smoke the Nymph Pipe in town." Clay the Elder said. "Come on Vash, and let's all get changed into some grand mayor's clothes. Vash, keep that pipe in your mouth. Yes, it's going to be in there for a while. You won't get thirsty or anything. I'll give you this (Clay the Elder pointed at the can of blue grass) when we come back, so you can smoke it. It'll keep you in shape and when things get tough, from smoking. Remember Vash, ladies first, so no taking the food when the ladies need it (giggles from the girls). I'd wish you had more guys, so I'd have more pipes, but oh well." Clay the Elder got up. "Follow me." Vash followed. Doughboy sighed and slammed his head on the table.  
"He seems to have forgotten I'm a guy also!" Doughboy complained.  
We gathered in front of the library after changing. Rene and the others (Kero included) had had their breakfast already and had joined us in the changing process.  
"What are these?" Snowy wanted to know, patting down her skirt.  
"The Dwarf Humans Regular." Kelli said.  
"What in the world?" Liz asked.  
"They're what dwarfs think humans wear, so that's what they supply in stores." Kelli said, trying to pat down her dress.  
"We look like we are the ladies of the American Revolution when we wear these." I complained.  
"At least they don't have cages." Kelli said.  
"How in the world do they stay up?" Rene asked. "I think mine's pretty."  
"They are pretty." I said. "I don't know, starch?"  
"They might be pretty." Kanari said. "But they're so old."  
"This is what they wear in Gone With the Wind." I said, giggling. Rene giggled too, and Snowy and Liz sighed.  
Clay the Elder and Vash both had on vests, only Clay the Elder's was red and Vash's was green.  
"Our clothes are in the wash." Vash said. "That's what Clay told me. We are supposed to shop and then wash, and then, after we sleep, the ambush begins."  
"New prospect on life:" Kero said, adjusting the bow Rene had put in him. "Sleep." We all giggled, and Cherry (with a matching pink bow to Kero's around her neck as well) squealed.  
Doughboy came grumbling in the room, wearing nearly the same thing as Vash and Clay the Elder. Snowy rubbed her head.  
"Somehow, he doesn't look too intelligent." Snowy said. It was true. While Clay the Elder was a little short, jolly and a little plump man, with his outfit, black cane, black pants and shiny polished shoes, no one seemed to notice or think he was out of style. Vash was dressed trimly and he stood tall, but Doughboy, who was just as tall, was too [---] as Snowy pointed out with her hands.  
It was true; the sides of the shirt just seemed to bulge out in the middle.  
We girls giggled again.  
Vash and Clay the Elder were still smoking the Nymph Pipes as they walked out of the room and onto the porch. Clay the Elder grabbed his sleek, black hat at the last second as they darted out and put it primly on his head.  
"I would never go anywhere without it." He said.  
We walked out the door and the first place we stopped was the herb shop. An old lady dwarf was there, selling her precious herbs. Clay the Elder brought a lot of herbs ("We're going to make poison for the guards") and the dwarf at the counter gave him some grassy thing, which he poured some onto his hand.  
"Clay, I hear that these kids are going to be up against Jewel and her clan." The dwarf said. Vash and Kelli shifted uneasily at the word clan.  
"Too true." Clay the Elder nodded. He walked over to Vash and poured some of the stuff in Vash's pipe. "Hold your pipe Vash. It's always good manners to hold it with one hand." Vash held his pipe. "And you aren't part of that clan anymore, so live with it."  
"Live with the haunting memory." Kelli said, disappointed as Clay the Elder sprinkled the rest of the stuff in his own pipe.  
"Well, well." The dwarf lady smiled. "My two sons and four son-in laws, plus my twelve grandsons are going to be in that courageous battle. But, good luck to our true heroes." All of us blushed. The lady dwarf laughed and pulled out a bag of candy. Throwing it at us (she didn't have very good aim. It got stuck right on Vash's Nymph Pipe, covering his blowhole, causing the smoke to have nowhere to go and circles back. Vash, who luckily had listened to Clay the Elder about manners, or else he would have coughed out his pipe and it would have been lying on the ground, took the pipe out and coughed twice. Then, removing the candy pack and handing it to Rene, who was on his right, he stuck the pipe back into his mouth.  
"Whew." He said. Rene opened the bag and started passing the candy around. Soon, everyone had a piece.  
"Here, Vash." Rene said, sticking the rest of it in his pockets. "You can have the rest." Vash nodded.  
"All right." Vash took the bags off of the counter for Clay the Elder and Kelli held the door opened for the rest of us. "Where to now?"  
"Okay, so that takes care of all the herbs, which means we have all the needs for potion." Clay the Elder smiled, then frowned, deep in thought. "What else DO we need?" He suddenly lit up. "Food." He started walking to the groceries.  
"It's a nice thing that lady dwarf and her family are doing for us." I said. Vash nodded.  
"Yeah, but not only for us. Remember, we're doing this for a number of people, including the dwarfs. We represent them." He coughed again. "Clay, what did she put in here?"  
"I'm not sure." Clay said. "It must be extra strong stuff." He plucked Vash's pipe out of Vash's mouth. "See, you must hold it stronger. Anyone can steal it." Walking over to a nearby bin, he emptied it and brought it back to Vash. "It's too strong for little kids. Yes Vash, I know you're not little no longer, but I've been smoking that for years, every time I come."  
"So that was it." Vash said, smiling. "I see."  
They entered the grocery store. Clay brought a bunch of fruits and then (Doughboy rushed forward to carry this, trying to prove he was a gentleman, before Vash could) walked to the Bakery across the street.  
"And what would the ladies like?" Clay the Elder asked, winking at Vash.  
"Wow." I said. Rene, Liz, Snowy, Kanari, and I were looking in on the glass. The owner of the bakery, a jolly short man, laughed.  
"What do you think?" He asked.  
"They're beautiful!" I said.  
"You haven't tasted them yet." He said.  
"Whoa." Rene said, pointing to a nearby cake. "Look at that." We girls (all except Kelli, who had probably seem these a hundred times already) spent more time gloating over the cakes. Kero bounced up and down on my shoulder. Anora stretched and extended her claws. Cherry squeaked at the sight of the cinnamon buns (or what looked it).  
"Come here." Vash said. We walked over. Pulling out a purple drawstring bag, he handed us each a golden coin.  
"Cool, what is this?" Snowy asked.  
"It looks like money." I said. "Thank you Vash."  
"Is it money?" Kanari asked.  
"Who cares?" I said. "It's as pretty as money."  
"Yes, it is." Vash said. "You're all welcome and you can get all you want."  
"Whoa." Rene said again. She bent down and peered at the tiny price labels. "But I can't understand these signs." She looked at the sign that said 20-.  
"One {, which is the golden coin I gave you, is equal to five Silver Missles (z), which is egal to twenty-five ten pences (o), and also equal to four brailes (-), which is equal to forty five pences ( 


	22. The Dwarf's Castle

Me: Digi...I mean, CCS does not belong to me.  
Vash: Can't even keep track.  
Me: I'm sorry, this is my 39th disclaimer.  
Vash: Yadayadaya  
Me: Shup up, you made this thing short, you and your...  
Vash: Don't say it  
Yuki: Okay, well, since you pestered me about posting, read!  
  
The Dwarf's Castle  
"Wow, nice to be back into my own clean clothes." Kanari said, struggling to pull her sweater over her head.  
"Yeah." I zipped up my jacket. "And clean too. It can get pretty cold down here."  
"Is it very late?" Rene asked. "The lights are dimming." And so they were. Three heads popped out of the window of the room to take their last peek at Dwarf's Land.  
"I'm going to miss this place." I said. "Even though I don't know this place very well."  
"I want a rose." Cherry chirped up from the bed, meaning the mayor's wife's rose garden, which we had seen earlier.  
"So do I." I said. "And you promised not to talk." Cherry shut up. Snowy and Liz were making the beds. Kelli popped her head in the room.  
"Stop making the beds, the guys and Clay the Elder are waiting by the bottom of the stairs!" She disappeared from view and we quickly followed.  
Down in the foyer, all the others were waiting. Dressed in their old clothes, they hardly seemed any different from the schoolchildren I had known back on earth. But there was a great difference. You could see it on their faces, that look of courageous bravery.  
"AH!" Liz said as a sword flashed and stopped right in front of her throat. "Vash!" Vash had borrowed a sword from the mayor's house and promised to return it.  
"I'm a little out of shape." Vash said, walking over and tossing another sword (which was leaning against a mahogany chair) to Kelli. It was still in it's case, so Kelli didn't cut herself, yet it seemed heavy, and anyone who tried to pick it up would've likely fallen over. Kelli pinned the thing that held the sword (I, Yuki, personally don't know what it's called) to her waist and pulled out the sword.  
She blew on it and felt the blade.  
"It's not as good as the Lovely Violet or the Blue Mist, Vash." She said sadly. "But it'll do."  
"Challenge you?" Vash asked.  
"Outside." Kelli said.  
They ran out onto the lawn and started a spectacular fight.  
"Whoa." Liz said, looking at the flashing swords. "I would like to fight like that."  
"I assume they're fighting and making sure they don't chop off the other person's head at the same time." Doughboy said. "That way it affects their ability of the sword."  
"Um, okay." Snowy said.  
"Would you guys stop?" I pleaded. "It's making me dizzy, and you might hurt yourselves." Vash and Kelli's sword blades collided with each other and stayed in the air for a second, until they both withdrew their swords and put them back in the buckle (yeah, I'm gonna call that thing buckle now. I mean, I'm sure it's in the dictionary, but I'd rather not go look it up).  
"Little Yuki's scared of the blade." Vash taunted.  
"Am not." I replied hotly.  
"Am too."  
"Well, so what?" Vash laughed.  
"Don't try anything." Kelli said. Vash looked at her, a grin etched on his face. "I know what you were going to do." Vash shrugged.  
"It would have been nice to see her expression." We headed back inside to get the herbs and stuff that Clay the Elder had gotten us. Most of it was in pouches, which we all tied to ourselves. Mr. Clay was there too.  
"Thank you." Vash said. "For your hospitality, Clay." He looked at Clay the Elder, bowed, and then at Mr. Clay and did the same. The rest of us curtseyed (exclude Doughboy).  
"You're very welcome." Clay the Elder said, his eyes drooping. It had been one long day.  
"We will attack at night." Vash said. "Mr. Clay, as soon as Kelli and I get our swords, we will drop these swords in that shrew's hole right outside of the dome. You can send a dwarf to pick that up."  
"I definitely can." Mr. Clay said. "The armies of dwarfs are being drilled right now. We wish you the best of luck." Clay the Elder was crying.  
"Vash, Kelli, be very careful." He looked at the rest of us. "Remember, you are representing our nation, our place in the life cycle, following that great pattern. Good luck to all. Please help us get Uri back."  
There were tears in Mr. Clay's eyes too. I guess they planned to live with the dwarfs. So Vash and Kelli did have a choice. But it definitely would be no fun to be with Mr. Clay and Clay the Elder all the time. Maybe for a year, but not for many years and moons. They needed association with other worlds and people and the likeliness to move around and explore. And earth, the Third Dimension, was a perfect spot. To my surprise, I felt my eyes brimming with tears as well. Mr. Clay and Clay the Elder had helped us so much, and now it was our turn to repay them.  
"Are you all set?" Mr. Clay asked. Vash nodded, shakily.  
"This is the first time I've ever led an army, even if it's an army of seven." He said. "We are ready. We will prepare and hit with an ambush tonight, try to inflict on as much damage as we can. But the purpose is to not to strike until we find our Nakita and the swords."  
"Roger that." Doughboy said, which was followed by "hush" and "Shut up" and "Gosh, you really don't know when not to talk" s.  
"As soon as they get word out, we will be offered to chose the battle ground." Vash said. "Their custom is to be noble to guests, things that could be taken for advantage later on. We will chose the area between the Santa Aria Shrine, the river being our boundaries. We have the larger area and will led them charge over the bridge."  
"That's a small bridge." Kelli said, eyes closed, trying to remember. "Only several feet wide."  
"And while they try to get across, dwarfs will be at the foothills shooting arrows and most of us will be above the dwarfs, almost directly above the enemy, targeting." Vash said. "And we will aim and fight till the last one of us is gone. As soon as they all manage to get close to the foothills we will charge. Close enough, as in several hundred feet. The blue water will turn into a bloody river as the bodies of men are plunged into the stream, dead and unconscious."  
"You've got it all planned out, haven't you?" Kanari asked. Vash nodded silently.  
"One question." I said. "Do they have the same super natural powers we do?"  
"Some of my brothers do." Vash said. "It comes from a gifted source, and no one knows how. Only some of my oldest brothers. Galdius has a little magic in him. But as for girls, well, that's strange to be found."  
"Okay." I said. "This won['t be a piece of cake. It'll be harder than we think."  
"And they have shields that they can shield themselves from dwarf arrows and they probably have arrows of their own." Kanari added.  
"Ooh, I don't want to do this." Liz cried. We all looked at her.  
"Liz, you can give up now." Vash offered. "We can leave you here and after we're done [if we're done or ever get done] we can take you with us back home."  
"Home?"  
"Earth."  
Aw, that was sweet, Vash called earth home. But I didn't care at the moment. What was Liz saying? We had to fight.  
"All right." She said. "We fight. I'm not letting you down now."  
"Okay then." Vash looked at the mansion one last time. "I thank you so many times. We must get going or else we'll be late. How will we ever repay you?"  
"This is our repay to you." Clay the Elder said. "Now go along."  
"I never thought it'd be so hard to leave." Vash turned. "Let's go."  
We walked down the street in a forbidden silence. Everywhere in the city we went, people stared. We walked rather fast, almost at a running tempo, with a forbidden silence. As we reached the underground farmlands, we started to run. Finally, tired and worn out, we stopped and started walking. Rene passed the water bottle around.  
"Lucky we have the river right beside us." She said.  
"Not for long." Vash pointed. Suddenly, the river turned to the right. We had to keep going straight. There was a road that followed the river and one that followed the countryside. "If you want water, drink it now." Almost everyone went and got a sip before starting on our way again. Finally, we walked and walked and seemed to get closer. The lights were again dimmer. Vash had lit his pipe halfway through the countryside and the fumes had warmed us. He was smoking it because we enjoyed it and because he was hungry. The rations were for us, not him.  
It seemed a very long time later when Vash said, "We're here." And six scared figures, plus one trying to hide his feelings, exchange worried looks.  
"Whoever wants to give up, do it now." Kelli said. No one said anything. "All right Vash, lead on."  
We had approached a wall where the countryside suddenly seemed to slope uphill, and the roach turned right again. Little did we know it would meet with the river again. In front of us was a cement wall made of gray bricks. And on the wall of it was a ladder. A ladder glued to the wall.  
Vash walked up to it and pulled himself up the first rung. The rungs were rather far apart. He started climbing, followed by Kelli.  
"Be very quiet." Kelli whispered as we moved up. We entered a tunnel, and kept on climbing until my hands were sore and started to smell of lead and dust when suddenly, there was a slight, very small, clanging noise. I looked up. Vash was twisting something round. In fact, it looked very much like the other side of one of our drains, or at least those things in the middle of the road which are round. Vash was using both hands. Kelli was under there, trying to figure out which way she should lean if Vash was to fall. Vash hung there for a minute, until he finally managed to get the thing open. He pushed it away from the opening.  
I expected to see light. I was right behind Kelli and expected to see sunlight pouring through. Instead, to my surprise, I saw darkness. In fact, the countryside was brighter than through that hole, but that didn't matter too much at the moment. Vash boosted himself out, and so did Kelli. I stuck my head through the hole. It took my eyes a second to adjust, in which I pulled myself out.  
We seemed to be in some kind of an underbrush. Surrounded by trees, there was hardly enough place for the three of us to move. Vash crept towards one of the bushes. Hiding behind the bush, he took his hands and gently pulled away the huge leaves and ferns. He peeked out, and nodded to Kelli, who followed. While Rene and Snowy boosted themselves up, I realized that in this brush, there was a circular hole where we could come out. That's how the dwarfs got around. After they all got out, Kelli put the round plate Vash had been struggling with back. It made almost no sound at all, and then I realized that the top was full of grass. Of course! When she put it back, it blended in perfectly with the other blades of grass. Then the eight of us peeked out of the grass.  
"Thee that black ting?" Vash asked. He was talking funny because he knew that the letter s was the easiest sound to be overheard. "Guard." He pulled out a pouch. Handing it to Kelli, he sprinkled some in her hand. She suddenly closed her eyes, and right before our eyes, melted into the shadows. We watched as she disappeared but then we couldn't see anything else. A few minutes later, we heard the guard groan and lean against the building. He was asleep.  
"Though medicine." Vash said. "That'll last us several hours."  
"Are there others?" Kanari asked. Vash nodded.  
"But we only needed this one. Sleep Power. Very powerful." Suddenly, Kelli had appeared where she had disappeared.  
"Did I mention I have invisibility?" She asked. We shook our heads. "Don't know how I learned it." We smiled, and then Vash crawled out of the shadows. Kelli and I followed next.  
It was a good thing we were wearing dark clothes. We thought that that would make us harder to spot making the journey from the park to the Fourth Dimension door, but now it proved to be of a greater use. Luckily we had nothing that jingled. Vash walked up to the wall and started to climb the ivy. The rest of us got out wings and slowly glided up the wall silently. Cherry and I exchanged pained looks. We reached a tower. Passing it, we went past a series of building, gliding like shadows. Vash was jumping from tower to tower, yet he made no sound at all.  
Finally, we reached the tower they were looking for. Vash listened, then pried the window open. The curtains ruffled, and he was gone. A guard looking would've seen only a breeze.  
We followed. We were in Vash's room. Vash walked over and pried a piece of the wall off gently. It revealed a safe. He recited something and it opened. Vash pulled out a sword.  
"Kelli, you and I get yours." He whispered. "The rest of you, outside." We crawled back out the window. We had to rely on hearing, because any source of light would've given us away.  
"Do you realize that they could be setting up a trap leading us here?" Doughboy asked, who still believed that Kelli and Vash were evil. We glared at him and put a finger to our lips.  
A moment later, Kelli came out with the sword. She had the Lovely Violet in her hand.  
"C'mon." Vash said. Sliding back into the shadows, we deposited the old swords into a shrew's burrow. "We're safe for now. And just four of us are going to go in as spies to try and find out where Nakita is."  
"I want to go." I said. Rene nodded too.  
"Then it's settled." Vash said. "The four of us will go on. As soon as we need your aid we will shoot something in the air."  
"Aye, aye, captain." Kanari said.  
"We have arrived at the Dwarf's Castle." Kelli said, looking up at the great structure. "Yes, it used to be called that." She squinted towards the dome at the very top with two lights in it, one yellow and the other white, like a diamond. "I bet you anything, Vash, that Nakita's up there."  
"I totally agree." Vash said. "Let's go."  
  
Me: dandan dannb...I wonder what will happen next?  
Vash: *sweating and sweatdropping* quick, Yuki, write.  
Me: Ooh, don't rush me...you made this chapter so short, you and your "miniski"  
Vash: *sweatdrop*  
Me: And what kind of picture was that?  
Vash: Hey, Yuki and Vash smiling.  
Me: I dunno...I think Ulala could draw us a better one  
Vash: *sigh*  
Yuki: You'd better review, Vash  
Vash: *head moves further down* 


	23. The Ignoramus

Me: *sigh* I've decided to finish ALL the chapters of Jewel Quest and start the first chapter of Black Magic before I start to work on anything else.  
Vash: YES!!!  
Kanari: And may I ask why?  
Vash: *smack* That's only for negotiating class? Who cares as long as she's writing?  
Kanari: *shrug* oh, okay.  
Me: *sad smile* and so innocent little being with no clue what might happen...*looks at Kanari and Vash* Do please read.  
Vash: Okay, okay, we are, don't have to be so dramatic!  
Me: I'm feeling tired today after writing this...But Jewel Quest is a story that I can write in whatever mood I'm in, and the plot is SO good that, well, I have to finish Jewel Quest so I can start on Black Magic so I can have a stable condition so that I can start writing all the other stories.  
Kanari: Enough said, now let's read!!!:  
  
The Ignoramus  
"Okay, Rene, you go with Kelli and I'll go with Yuki." Vash said. "We'll go to the right and you go to the left. Meet up at the dome."  
"Okay." Kelli said. She reached for Rene's hand. "C'mon."  
"Where and what are we supposed to do exactly?" I asked Vash. He walked over to the ivy and started to climb. "Need a lift?"  
"Sure." We reached the tower again. Vash closed his eyes and concentrated very hard. Suddenly, he was gone before my eyes. But only for a second. The next moment, he popped right back up again.  
"What happened?" I asked.  
"I can't do it as well as Kelli can." He said. "You try it. Think about being invisible." I tried.  
"Not working." Kero said quietly. In all the midst of the excitement, I mad forgotten he lay curled up under my collar. I tired harder. Cherry had been left with Kanari.  
"Stop thinking." Vash said.  
"What?" I asked.  
"Stop thinking of other things and just of being invisible." He replied.  
"Okay, I can do this." I winced. C'mon. This was vital. What would it be like to be invincible? Awfully cool. I concentrated harder. Suddenly, I felt icy cold. Opening my eyes, I looked down. I couldn't see anything.  
"What?" I asked. Then I saw my body again.  
"Cool, eh?" Vash asked. "It lasts for a second after you lose power."  
"Wow." I said. "Kero, try it. You're gonna need it too." Kero tried as was only as successful as Vash.  
"Girls do it better." Vash said. "C'mon, we have to move around the castle."  
"Can't we just fly up there?" I asked, pointing to the dome on the very top. Vash thought about this.  
"We'd be very likely to be seen." He said.  
"And to be invincible at the same time?" I asked.  
"How would you carry me up there?" He asked. I pulled out my necklace.  
"The Fly Card." I said.  
"We can't." Kero said. "It won't help us any, and our purpose is to find Nakita. Even if she is in there, I bet the dome is sealed tight."  
"Too true." Vash said.  
"All right then." I said. "Let's go." Vash went through his room again, and I followed. He closed the window glass gently, and then opened the door. Heart beating at a speed at about 200 beats per minute, I followed. We crept down the staircase softly, shriveled against the wall. Kero was hiding underneath my collar. Finally, we reached the end of the spiral staircase and came to a close, wooden door. Vash put his ear to the door and opened it.  
The hallway was dark. Evidently, once the people went to sleep, the castle did too. We crept along wildly throughout the passages. Vash seemed to have every detail memorized and that I was grateful for. We crept along many places. It was hard to see, and it was so dark, but once I caught a glance of portraits and suits or armor. I was always afraid that someone was in them. Every shadow seemed like a person to me. But I didn't dare whimper. As if our feet didn't make enough noise already. I was glad I had not listened to my mother and worn the new shoes she had brought me a month ago. I didn't want to wear them because I liked my worn shoes, and the new one would take some time getting used to. But here, the new one would've banged on the floor while my old shoes shuffled and made almost next to no noise at all. Vash seemed to be looking around the place. I wondered how he could see any better than I could. Sure, I was near sighted, but he had glasses. I looked closer at him. Were those really glasses after all?  
"This way." Vash said. I followed. Suddenly, his body rose. We were going up a set of stairs. Where we had been, from the top of the stairs, I could dimly make out a chandelier and a long hall. I didn't know which, but this was either the mess hall or a grand hall. The staircase turned left and I followed Vash. There was carpet beneath our feet, so we made little noise, yet we were careful not to make any noise.  
"We're splitting up so we can try to get up to the dome both ways." Vash explained. "It's sealed. We're trying to save Nakita first and if we can't, then we'll be spies and at least get some information." I nodded and we kept on going. Left, right, climb through here; I was very tired when we finally stopped. Vash, puzzled, looked at me.  
We were in front of a big, double door. I guessed that inside was the dome. Why didn't Vash open the door? Then I looked at the floor. You could see that a light was on.  
Suddenly, the door opened and light flooded out. Vash and I, standing to the side of the door, were left in the shadows. Out came a face we did so recognize: the face of Lumbeus. Vash suddenly started to disappear. Following his lead, I did the same and so did Kero. Not a word was spoken. Lumbeus had moved several feet when I realized that Vash wasn't beside me anymore. I walked into the room, and bumped into something. Oh, luckily for me, it was only Vash. Still invincible, he pulled me towards some crates. We squeezed behind them and looked out.  
We were in the circular dome, all right. There was a light coming from a ball of yellow flame at the top that shone over the room. That was the room's light. That was the dim yellow light that everyone across the country could see. And in the middle of the room, attached to the wall through this red, disgusting tube thing, was a box. It looked like a casket. Then I realized that it was open, the glass door was lying to a side. And Galdius was standing to the side of it, looking it. I exchanged a paralyzed look with Vash, and noticed that we both had become visible again. I now understood why Vash had waited. He knew that someone was inside, and even if we were invincible, it'd be strange if the door just opened by itself. Vash, at the moment, was starting at Galdius with pure hatred. He moved around the crates slowly, placing him between Galdius and me. I was glad he did, but it proved to be of a better purpose. I moved behind some more crates and summoned my wand very quietly. I was able to control it so no light escaped in the process. I went back to Vash. His sheath was pinned to his side and his hand was on the handle. I knew he planned to strike soon.  
Galdius got up, and pulled the curtains down from the glass windows surrounding the dome. I was worried. Suppose the others thought that that mean Galdius and Vash were in a battle? But then, Vash had said that they shouldn't move until he gave the signal. Still, it worried me. Just then, after Galdius had done his job and returned to the side of the glass casket did I realize that the casket was glowing? Glowing silver, like a diamond. That was the light we had seen. But what in the world was inside it?  
The door on the other side of the room opened, and a figure stepped in. A tall, sharp, ugly figure: Queen Jewel. She walked in and placed a hand on Galdius's shoulder.  
"How long has Lair been gone?" She asked.  
"About two days so far." Galdius said. "I think she's all right. Either way, she won't be able to get back until the next moon."  
"Yes, that's a long time." Something by the door caught my attention. It seemed that the door was closing, but it took an awful long to close, and I thought I saw something by the door, but wasn't sure. It was gone in a flash. Vash was staring at the spot too. I looked around with worried eyes. Queen Jewel and Galdius were still staring into the casket.  
"Lovely girl." Queen Jewel said. "We did a lovely job dressing Lair up." Vash and I exchanged terrified looks. Our theory had been proved. Nakita was in the casket.  
"Yes, but I can't help noticing the holes in her ears." Galdius said. "What are those? We don't have holes in our ears, Mother. Do you think they'll notice?" Queen Jewel smiled, and shook her head.  
"Don't worry, dear." She said. "And it's time to clear up. Time for bed." Galdius smiled.  
"Go ahead Mother. Let me stay here for half an hour more." Queen Jewel yawned and smiled, her icy eyes looking straight at Galdius with what was considered a "warm" smile. She nodded and left.  
Galdius turned back to the casket.  
Vash wasn't staring at them anymore. Instead, he pointed to behind the crates. Kelli and Rene sneaked out. I supposed they had heard everything that had been said. Kelli came up to where Vash and I were and Rene crouched with me behind a crate.  
"We're going to wait until he leaves and rescues her." Kelli whispered, the only thing that was said. Vash nodded.  
"Sweet little thing." Galdius murmured, looking at Nakita. "How on earth did you survive on the Third Dimension? You should be here with me." The three of us girls both felt Vash tighten up and clench his fist. He didn't care take out his sword: It would make way too much noise. The rest of us tingled with fear. Galdius reached out to stroke Nakita's head (though we had no idea what he was doing, we couldn't see), said a few more words, and left the room, shutting off the dim yellow light. All was quiet.  
"The light means the end of the day." Kelli whispered. We got out behind the crates. Rene offered to watch the door as we went over to the casket. Galdius had close and locket the casket, and Vash and Kelli couldn't get it open.  
"Let me try." I said. "Lock Card, unlock this lock!" The lock slowly unlocked and the glass popped open at the hinges. Vash picked Nakita up and placed her on the floor. I returned the Lock Card back to its card form while they tried to wake Nakita up.  
"I hope they haven't brainwashed her." Vash said. "They certainly had enough time." Nakita moaned and opened her eyes.  
"Vash?" She asked.  
"I'm here." Vash said, a little edgy about the brainwashing thing.  
"Ooh, Vash." Nakita started to cry. She held out a hand and Kelli took it.  
"It's all right." Kelli said. "Oh, do hush up Nakita, you're going to get us caught." Actually, it didn't make all that much noise, but still, Kelli was afraid, like the rest of us.  
"When I got here, I fell into the mines, and a worker all dressed up in the scariest uniform turned me in here." Nakita said. "They questioned me and tried to get things out of me but I said little and kept my guard. They finally came to the conclusion that I had just dropped out of here either accidentally or as a spy. They sent a girl named Lair back to earth, and oh, I couldn't understand it. Then they took me to this dome and gave me a bed to sleep in, and it had walls. All I know is, I slept for a long time. There were times when I woke up and ate, but so far next to nothing has happened. Vash, what are you doing?" Vash had leaned up close and was sniffing her.  
"Sleep Powder." He said drowsily. "Nakita, do us all a favor and go behind the crates to shake off the powder." Nakita did as she was told and returned.  
"Is Cherry okay?" She asked, worried.  
"Oh, fine." Kero said. "We've been talking care of her."  
"I was so worried." Nakita said. "I wanted to fight back, but I had no knowledge of this place whatsoever and I was still pretending to be innocent. They wanted to drain my brain of knowledge or something but Galdius wouldn't let them."  
"Then it's lucky." Kelli said. "That Galdius has a thing for you."  
"He does not." Nakita said.  
"Does to." Rene said. "Quick, I hear footsteps." We all ran behind the crates and crouched down. The door opened and Galdius, holding a candle, could be shown. He was singing what sounded like a lullaby and walked over to the casket saying "Good Night My Little Angel". Suddenly, his eyes widened.  
"Nikki?" He asked.  
"Quick." Kelli said. "Rene, you and I make way for it through that open door. He'll think one of us is Nakita sound the alarm and the others can get away." They started to run. Galdius snapped on the light and ran after them, but halted in the doorway and turned to look right behind the crates. And he spotted us.  
"So there you are." He said, his voice deadly. Nakita clung onto Vash's arm and hid behind us.  
"Don't worry Nakita." I said, because Vash stood paralyzed, glaring with the most deadliest eyes I've ever seen him make, and I knew that Vash was not in the mood to offer any comfort.  
"Let her go." Galdius said. Rene and Kelli, realizing the situation, stopped running and came back, shutting the door. Kelli jammed the doorway shut and Rene pulled the casket over it. They snuck to the other side of the room and did the other door. Galdius didn't even notice. His gaze was focused on the three of us.  
"Gee, I was about to say the same to you." Vash said. Rene mouthed if she should signal or not, and Kelli waved her away. It was not the time to signal just yet.  
"Don't think you can get away with everything you do." Kelli said. She pulled out her sword and so did Vash. The two most powerful swords on both sides surrounded Galdius.  
The battle had begun.  
Galdius flew at us. Talking Nakita by her arms, I spread out my wings and with her flew to the other side of the room.  
"Signal!" I said. Rene got up and aimed some Golden Rings at the window. The curtains burst into flames.  
Down below, the other kids saw a burning flame and several explosions that looked like Golden Rings of fire: Rene's signal. Then, after it cleared, something came out and started to come down. It flew straight towards them. That thing spread into two, and then one stopped in mid-air and turned back. The other one kept going until it crashed several feet in the ground from them. Kanari ran over.  
"Nakita!" She said, dragging Nakita into the bushes. Several guards had arrived at the scene but had not discovered the hideout yet. There were sure to, though. Doughboy twisted the thing open.  
"Go in." He hissed. Kanari, with an unconscious Nakita in her arms, jumped down into the hole. Halfway down to the countryside, she spread out her wings and was able to land safely on the grass. Snowy did the same with Liz, and Doughboy climbed down several rungs and screwed the lid on tight. He then climbed down the rest of the rungs and reached the ground. Running towards the others, he said, "I really do hope they know where to find us."  
By now it was already clear that something in the castle was going on. The guards had heard something, but that didn't mean anything, it could've been an animal. However, they just HAD to look up at the dome and see something. They notified the others and started racing up the stairs to get to the dome.  
"Vash." Galdius was saying as I arrived back in the room. "What are you doing here? We're supposed to be on the same team."  
"Never touch Nakita again." Vash said, sword aimed at Galdius.  
"Vash, this isn't about Nakita." Kelli said.  
"Or any of the other girls." Vash added. I wasn't sure if he meant to leave out Doughboy or not, I couldn't tell. "Stay away, big brother." Galdius chuckled. Slowly, he walked closer to Vash.  
"Who are you telling me what I ought to do or should not do?" He asked. They plunged into a minute of sword fights. Finally, when all was visible again, we could see Galdius and his sword trying to break and tip over the Blue Mist.  
"Aren't we going to fight?" Rene asked.  
"Let a good knight defend himself unless you absolutely have to." Kelli said. "You forget we're ladies." There was a loud pounding at the door.  
"Guards." I said. "Nakita and the others must have gone back t-" My mouth was suddenly covered and I realized I almost let the dwarf's secret leak out. When Kelli released my mouth again, I said, "Those guards must have seen the explosion."  
"Okay, we can fight now." Kelli said, looking at the two straining men. "Soon Queen Jewel will be here." There came a loud screech as Anora spread out her wings (she had lay under a crate, hiding ever since Nakita was pulled out from behind the crates and the crates tipped over) and aimed her deadly claws at Galdius.  
"Ah!" Galdius said and ducked for the moment. Anora left three scratch marks on his forehead, each about a fraction of a centimeter deep. Galdius felt his forehead. Blood. Charging at Anora wildly, he forgot totally about Vash, who took his sword and lunged at Galdius, planning to feel the soft, deep, flesh of Galdius's guts on his sword. But the strike never came.  
At that very moment, the door banged open, right out of its hinges and Queen Jewel entered, blocking the blow with her long, iron thing with a ball and three claws at the top. I guessed that she hadn't the time to changer her weapon.  
"Vash! Kelli!" She boomed. "What are you doing?" I was worried. Galdius and Queen Jewel stood between the opening in the glass and Vash.  
"Sword Card!" I said. Taking out my sword, I charged at Queen Jewel. She took the blow and threw me halfway across the room. I crashed into a window and it broke. Tipping over with the hundred pieces of glass, I fell.  
"That's why I don't practice." Queen Jewel said. "My muscle power builds up."  
"But you've got to be old enough." Galdius said. There was a low growl in the room. Cerberus stood where a little Kero had once been. He had been brave enough and fortunate enough to get out of my collar. Rene stood between the rest of them and the army of guards by the door.  
"Don't come another step." She said. One of the guards moved an inch just to show her who was boss. "Power Hoops!" Two shot out. I guess Rene needed work on that attack. She always used the other one. The result was terrible. One went straight for Vash, who ducked. It went right through a crate and shattered another window. The other one hit Queen Jewel's stick, left a hole straight across about three centimeters in diameter, bounced off, and shattered another window. Queen Jewel was outraged. It was in this time that I managed to get my wings straightly spread out and returned back to the battle scene.  
"You are a foolish little girl." Queen Jewel said, steeping towards Rene. Rene aimed her Golden Rings at Queen Jewel in an attempt to protect herself. Queen Jewel stepped right through the middle of them, but they threw Galdius across the room. Meanwhile, another guard had gotten hold of Rene's arm and now she couldn't attack.  
We were not going to get another girl captured I was sure of that. With my sword, I aimed as much as I could for the guy. The sword went straight across his arm, and it broke off. Not the sword, I mean, the arm. There was a great deal of howling and blood. Rene got out of the way and aimed her Golden Rings at the remaining guards. It hit them full force and they tumbled down the stairs in a large heap. We never saw them again.  
Meanwhile, Galdius had landed right at Cerberus's feet. With a few swipes, Galdius was bleeding as much as he possibly could, as I thought. Queen Jewel was trying to fight off Vash and Kelli and Anora at the same time. Cerberus's front legs had a metal thing attached. It popped open. Vash and Kelli got the sign. Kelli ran towards a broken window and spread out her wings. Rene and I followed as fast as we could, grabbing Vash, one on each arm, and jumped. Soon, three figures were flapping their wings furiously. Or, should I say, two. Kelli was quite stable. There came an explosion noise and I knew what had happened. I heard him say it-  
"Missile Launcher!"  
It came like a deep growl, and suddenly there was the sound of a million bullets in the air. The bullets were hitting stuff. That bad by his foot had released thousands of small bullets. A saw two figures jump from the window: Galdius and Queen Jewel, with many red dots on their skin, around one or two centimeter's wide. From the way Galdius was screeching, I guessed that they were pretty deep and hurt. They landed with a huge noise in the grass nearby. We walked up to them cautiously. Kelli and Cerberus landed on the grass nearby.  
They looked beat. The ambush seemed like it had worked. Now it only we could finish them off. But Lumbeus and the others were arriving. The six of us (including the animals this time) could fight well against two, or maybe even three or four, but eight and nine were hopeless.  
"We shall meet again!" Galdius said, determined to be able to fight, but his condition was worse, much worse to be able to be considered a healthy knight.  
"Chose your place." Queen Jewel spat on the ground. "And time."  
"We will choose the area between the Santa Aria Shrine, the river being our boundaries." Vash said. "Bring as many of your men as you'd like. We will meet at high noon tomorrow."  
"All right." Galdius said.  
"Yes." Queen Jewel said, eyes glowing with rage. They were red, I had noticed. "Galdius will lead his army and attack. I will not attend. I never attend battles."  
"All right." Vash said. "Let's go." Rene and I grabbed his arm again and we lifted off. We drifted off towards the way of the mines and disappeared. The battle would begin.  
  
Vash: Why it it called the Ignoramus?  
Me: Becaue Galdius makes a fool of himself.  
Vash: o  
Me: *sigh* Please review, Vash...I'm working on the next one, so don't worry. This is my longest one yet, but now we start into the battles. Not as many dialouges in this one.  
Kanari: Yeah, I've noticed, it isn't that long.  
Rene: Hey. *enters* I've noticed.  
Me: How do you like your role?  
Rene: All right, I like being a hero.  
Me: *sad smile* Okay, it's 8:25 now, I'm going to rest  
Vash: *looks hopeful*  
Me: And write...[*groan*] I usually like writing. I want to write Jewel Quest, but I'm just so tired, and yet I can't seem to stop writing! 


	24. The First Battle

Me: CCS does not belong to me.  
Vash: *scaning the page* I see a lot of Vash's!  
Me: Yeah, well, (Insert sarcasm) the world just revolves around you *end sarcasm*  
Vash: Um, okay.  
Me: You have to clue what I have in store...heh heh heh..so innocent, and not in this Jewel Quest thig either...something else is going on! *squeal* I can't wait to post.  
Vash: What?  
Me: I can't tell you, but promise not to get mad at me.  
Vash: I'll tell you if I promise or not in a review after I've read this...I wonder what you're going to do...?  
Me: No limitations to Yuki! *evil, sly, grin*  
  
The First Battle  
"So." Doughboy said. We had gone down a hole and met up with the others. Vash stretched. Him and Rene had just finished telling the whole story. Anora and Kero lay asleep. We were in the middle of the road. Not that there was any chance of us getting run over-the road ended here where the gray wall began. And we were sitting near the warm grass too, a perfect mattress for sleeping. The grass felt nice, though maybe not as nice as a carpet of moss, but it would do.  
"What a battle." Snowy said. The people who stayed behind weren't tired at all, but the rest of us were exhausted.  
"What did you do while we were saving our lives up there?" I asked with my eyes closed. I was lying down on the grass and looked like I was sleeping, but really wasn't.  
"Well, Kanari took Liz and Nakita to the river for some water and we brought back huge rations of it." Snowy said. "But as soon as they got back, Kanari and Nakita drifted off. Kanari said that her feet hurt, and I guess Nakita is still a little under her sleep powder. She was so happy to see Cherry though." I looked at the sleeping Nakita and Kanari. They were both on the grass. Nakita was holding Cherry.  
"Does she know that Cherry can talk?" Vash asked. Liz nodded.  
"Yeah, Cherry said something and they talked over what she missed." Liz answered. "It's been quite a day."  
"Oh yes, most definitely." I got up and walked over to Nakita. Pulling my jacket open, I took out the cordial. With the water, I made an asleep Nakita swallow it. "All symptoms should be gone by tomorrow."  
"That's good." Kelli said. "Speaking of tomorrow, what are we going to do?" Vash lay down on the grass.  
"I'm not sure." He said. "I think we should have a talk with Clay the Elder, but that would mean flying over there. However, there's really nothing better we can do until high noon."  
"Tomorrow was a quick time." Kelli said. "But then, what would we have done if you had said day after tomorrow. Oh, I hope the dwarfs are ready."  
"There's only one way to find out." Vash said. "Go back to Clay the Elder's house. We need the food, too." He got out the pipe and put some Nymph Blue Grass in it. Lighting it, he stuck it into his mouth and smoked contently.  
"I wonder if you can breathe in the smoke." Kelli said, leaning down. "Hmm, smells good. I can sense a dream coming on." Her head drooped and she fell asleep on the grass.  
"It must make you fall asleep." I said. "Well, at least we know it's safe to sleep in". And with Vash's white smoke whirling around we fell asleep as he blew dreams into our minds. To be truthful, it would hardly be proper to call that white stuff smoke. Fog or mist or thick smog would be more like it. But no one cared as we drifted off. Not even Vash cared. Soon, he leaned down, breathed in the foggish mist, and fell asleep.  
It was still very early when we woke. Vash was glad of that. We wouldn't have wanted to miss our battle. Several of us practiced, but most of us just spread out our wings and started to fly in the direction of Clay the Elder's house.  
"I wish that we could wash." Kanari said.  
"You could go for a dip in the water." Rene suggested.  
"Yeah, and then get all wet with no way to dry fast enough for the battle." Kanari sighed. "Those are the consequences."  
"And this thing is really freaky too." I said. "The flashing swords, the bloodiness of it all." Liz said nothing but her face showed it. Finally she said,  
"Even though we are saving the world, I don't like it anymore. It used to be fun. Now it's more of a fight and fight and fight." She said.  
"But for a purpose." Snowy said. "For a really good purpose, Liz."  
"Remember, after we get this job done we still have to transport all these people." Vash said as we flew over people's heads. They all turned to look and gasped and pointed.  
"Hey, pointing is rude." Doughboy said, but no one heard him. He was feeling pretty neglected lately, but was fairly happy: Nakita was flying along beside him with Cherry in her arms.  
"How does it feel having no Cherry?" Kelli asked me.  
"Strange, but I kind of like the thought of giving her back." I said. "She's happy to be reunited and I'm happy for her. I AM going to miss her, but it was though looking after both her and Kero-Chan." I looked at Kero, who was flying beside me and resting when he wanted. He weighed less than a penny.  
"Yup." He said. "Strange."  
"Why are you flying anyways?" Kanari asked.  
"Exercise and practice." Kero replied.  
"One last thing." Vash said. "Queen Jewel is not attending the battle. That means if we win, and they all die, we will still have to put up with her. But she's no match for the rest of us."  
"Of course." Doughboy said.  
"Also." Kelli added. "I'll bet you that she will arrive sooner or later during a battle." She looked at me. "Yuki said there was going to be three. WE can demolish her them."  
"Yup." Doughboy said.  
"Would you shut up?" Snowy asked. Doughboy sighed and closed his mouth.  
"We can do this." Kelli said. "We CAN win this battle."  
"All right." I said. Landing on the smooth lawn, I ran towards the mansion. "Let's tell them all about it and then get to the main event!" Liz sighed.  
Once inside, Clay the Elder greeted us.  
"My son wants to interview you for the Dwarf's Daily newspaper." He said. "Come to the library where you can tell me and the reporter the whole story." Reluctantly, we followed. For the next two hours, we told our tragic story. It gave us a feeling of peace and achievement though, and I have to say I liked that interview. We were going to be famous among the dwarfs!  
During the time, Vash pulled m apart from the others and whispered, "Are you sure we've got the right Nakita?"  
"What do you mean?" I asked. "This is Nakita, cause Lair's still in the Fourth Dimension, remember?"  
"Well, I was just wondering if they'd have made multiple copies." I blinked. The thought had never occurred to me.  
"Well, this one has pierced ears, and Galdius wouldn't have put up such a show if it was Nakita." I said. "Remember, he didn't know we were there at the time. Still, it is possible."  
"I know." Said Vash, clenching his fists. "Once I get my hands on him, ooh." Vash made a violent gesture. "He's a bad actor. He can't hide his inner feelings."  
"I've noticed." I said blandly. Vash smiled.  
"The good this is, I've been resting up on Earth. My hands aren't as raw as they used to be from Galdius's whips."  
"He's so evil." I said. "I can't believe he'd whip you, well, now that I've met him, yes I can."  
"I want an honor duel with him." Vash said.  
"But isn't it a little easier to fight when you have more people?" I asked.  
"When we get out there, you guys and the dwarfs finish up the knights and the army and let me have Galdius. We need to finish up a personal battle." His eyes were set and I knew there was nothing else I could do about it.  
"Well." Clay the Elder said after Kelli had finished the story. "It's approaching noon. How about we eat and then show you the best shortcut to the Santa Aria Shrine?"  
"Sure." Said Vash, ready to fight. "Let's go."  
The breakfast wasn't as good as the last one, but we were so hungry and tired we didn't even notice. After that, Vash smoked his pipe. It calmed our hyper selves down and gave us a sense of peace while he figured out the details.  
"Okay." Vash said after a few minutes of smoking. "Let's go now."  
We followed Clay the Elder out of the door, who gave us directions.  
"The army of dwarfs will be there." He said. "Don't worry, it's big and good." Vash nodded.  
"I'm not going to." We started off.  
When we finally reached another huge ladder, Kelli offered to go first. One by one, we snuck out into the light above. There was a hill in front of us and a couple of hundred dwarfs.  
"Captain." A dwarf started out and met us. He bowed and then pointed to the hills. "We will wait behind here. You go ahead has not arrived." He bowed again and left.  
"He doesn't have good English." Doughboy said.  
"Most dwarf's don't." Kelli said.  
"C'mon." Said Vash. "We want to get there first, as not to give the dwarfs away." We went and stopped several hundred feet away from the river. We would let them advance. It was a good thing that this area was big-we were also several hundred feet away from the dwarfs.  
"Are you sure the dwarfs won't hit us?" Doughboy asked.  
"Positive." Kelli said. "They are the best archers."  
"All right, here they come!" Rene said. Vash and Kelli drew their swords out of the sheath.  
"Release!" Liz, Doughboy, and Rene called. They're weapons were out in a second.  
"Oh Key of Clow, Power of Magic, Power of Light, Surrender the Wand, the Force Ignite!" I caught hold of my sealing wand. "Sword, Release and Dispel!"  
"That might come in handy." Snowy said, eying my sword. Her wand was out, and her little book was attached to a belt loop she was wearing. Kanari and Nakita had also called Release. Nakita put Cherry on the ground, and Anora stood firm in the arm, spreading out her wings and flexing her claws.  
Galdius's army was even closer now.  
Kero turned into Cerberus and stood on the ground, ready to fire his missile launchers at any second. I was surprised he still had ammunition.  
Galdius charged across the bridge, followed by eight knights. Lumbeus was among them. Queen Jewel was not. Since the bridge was so small, the army regrouped into columns and marched across the bridge.  
"Oh man." Vash said. The dwarfs were starting to shoot the knights.  
"The horses, the horses!" Rene shouted as an arrow hit a horse and it went down.  
"Not horses." Kelli said. "Fereos."  
"What?" Doughboy asked.  
"They came from a generation of flying horses, but can't fly and became dark horses. Vash, why are you laughing?" Vash was doubling over, laughing.  
"Look at the soldiers!" Vash said. "Their feet! Galdius forgot to tell them to break step!"  
"Oh my gosh!" I said. Kelli and the rest of them looked confused. "Never mind. It's what we learned in science."  
"Resonance." Vash said.  
"When an objects frequency matches the frequency of the natural object." Suddenly, the bridge started to stake and wobble and the next second, it plunged down into the river along with some four hundred troops. The other hundred lay across the river, no way to get across.  
"Whoa." Vash said and whistled. The soldiers all fell and disappeared into the water. We never saw those people again either. My guess is that they all died either by drowning or on the rapids. "I'd like to see that."  
"Probably full of blood." I meant the river. Only a few of the army had gotten across and saved themselves. They seemed to think that we had triggered the attack. But Lumbeus proved them wrong and took out the time to explain.  
By now we were running towards them and charging too.  
"I've got dibs on Galdius!" Vash said. All the horses, or Fereos, were down and on the ground. Vash and Galdius ran up to each other and their swords clashed. Kelli ran towards one of the knights and started to fight.  
The arrows had long stopped and the dwarfs were now charging from the hill. It was a spectacular sight as lines of dwarfs came charging down the hillside with small, rounded swords (that looked a lot like swift, butcher swords, used for killing pigs) in their hand and running and puffing.  
There were eight knights and nine of us. All of us were engaged in a battle, but there were twenty or so army men that we had to get rid of first.  
"Golden Ring!" Rene said, getting rid of ten or so soldiers. Three were hit and their impact and the impact of the Golden Rings pushed the rest of the soldiers into the river. Rene turned around and started to fight her opponent, Queen Jewel's only daughter.  
Nakita and Kanari were gaining up on one opponent. After using the sun ornament and the bells to make him deaf and blind, there was nothing else they could really do, but Nakita flew around him, saying things, and he charged at her. Nakita flew by the river and when he charged she spread her light blue wings out and flew up. The sun glittered off her wings (the soldier fell off the ridge of the bank) and Galdius stood watching for a second that gave Vash a chance to plunge two centimeters of his word into Galdius's arm.  
Galdius has gloves, a helmet, and a suit of armor (which did not include anything for his legs, that was way to much for that Fereos to carry). Vash got down and swiped at Galdius's feet, but this time he was ready. Galdius blocked the blow and the two of them locked swords in combat once again.  
Kelli was against Lumbeus, who was very tough, but nothing compared to her. Kanari and Nakita were fighting off some knights because Doughboy was getting beat. I had my own knight, so did Rene, Snowy, and Liz. Luckily the dwarfs were arriving.  
"Retreat!" Galdius called.  
"How?" another knight (my knight) called. "We're on the other side of the river!"  
"Well, I don't know!" Galdius said. There came a deep growl from Cerberus. The nine of us backed off and gathered in a semicircle, nine knights in the middle with the bank. Anora had gone off to the other side and was distracting the army front shooting arrows at us while we were fighting. It was a very brave act to do, but I knew they wouldn't shoot us in the first place in fear they would hit one of their knights.  
Cerberus fired his missile launchers again, and that uplifted five soldiers and sent them crashing onto the bank at the their side. The army helped pull them up, and trying to avoid Anora's deadly claws while the other half of the army tired to shoot at Anora, but was unsuccessful because she kept going so low and near to the heads of their knights.  
Galdius had made it over, and the whole army had started to retreat. Vash looked at the remaining three knights. He charged at one of them. After a two minute combat, I heard something I never want to hear again. The death cry of a soldier who has just had a sword plunged through his stomach. Everyone in Uri must've heard it. The workers in the mines must've lifted their heads for a second to wonder what it was. That was the beginning of their freedom call.  
I spun around to see Vash pulling out the sword from the dead knight and bending down to clean it on the grass. It was a ritual or something to clean your sword after you've used it. Kelli and Liz were engaged in a battle with two other knights.  
There was one more death cry that day. It gave me so much pain to hear it, yet a sense of relief. These were Queen Jewel's offspring. Well, maybe not offspring, but her bred. I was glad that her daughter had not died, though I knew it would come sooner or later.  
The other knight took the chance to jump over the river. He didn't make it, but his shirt caught onto a branch. One look at us he scrambled up the bank and away with the others.  
"Shall we pursue?" Cerberus asked. Vash considered it.  
"We can, and win this battle." He said taking a big stride towards the riverbank. Cleaning their sword once more, Kelli and Vash clanged their swords.  
"To us!" They said. Liz and I joined in.  
"Well, we've won the first battle." Anora flew back and Nakita picked up Cherry.  
"They're going back to the castle." Anora said. "We can either tell the dwarfs to meet them somewhere on the other side of the river and let them find their way through the Underground or we can lift them up and transport them."  
"I am a little tired." I admitted, looking at Vash.  
"Um." He said.  
"Don't worry." Captain Dwarf said. He whistled and two dwarfs came down the hill carrying two wooden planks and placing them side-by-side over the river. Captain walked across the then held the bridge steady for the other dwarfs.  
"That will never support us." Rene said.  
"Yeah." Doughboy said.  
"It'll definitely never support you." Liz said. They giggled.  
"Besides, there's another bridge further on." Captain Dwarf said as they continued to walk across.  
The rest of us sprouted our wings. Liz hung onto Snowy and Doughboy (in his pink bubble) and Vash to Rene and me.  
"Let the Second Battle begin." Vash said, brushing his blond hair out of his eyes. "Let's go!"  
  
Vash: And YES!!! I get to write the next chapter!  
Me: Well, first I've got to write the outline and send it to you while I post this and for the rest of today, Digimon Romance.  
Vash: Uh-oh  
Me: *grin*  
vash: I wish you WOULD move everything from Yuki to Yuki & Vash.  
Me: I'm not going to...please review this chapter...though I'll post a Digimon Romance fic...someday *evil grin recalls her evil plan* heh heh 


	25. The Second Battle

Vash: Wasn't I supposed to write this chapter?  
Yuki: Yeah, but you blew up Doughboy, and then your cat deleted the three pages you wrote, so I decided to write it.  
Doughboy: HUH, WHAT?  
Vash: Nothing!  
Yuki: Uh-huh  
Vash: *scanning* It sure is long...and not many dialouges.  
Yuki: Sure, it's a battle. Sorry it's that long, though. It's because, well, well...uh...um, mostly because of...well, this is the longest I've written.  
Vash: You're kidding.  
Yuki: Nope, and CCS does not belong to me.  
Vash: Proud of that?  
Yuki: Of course not!  
  
The Second Battle  
We marched across, us nine kids, plus Anora, Cerberus, and Cherry, in a great procession, followed by many dwarfs. At one time, I tried to count, but gave up soon after. There were just too many.  
"So what in the world are we going to do?" Liz asked.  
"We're gonna barge into the castle, kill the enemy and everyone alive, and win over Uri!" Vash said, waving his sword dangerously in the air.  
"Everyone?" Rene gulped.  
"Gosh, you're violent." I said. Vash made a strange noise.  
"Everyone who supports Queen Jewel, that is." He said.  
"That's better." Kanari said.  
"He's excited." Kelli said.  
"Well, I'm tired." Doughboy said, grunting as he ran as fast as he could towards the castle. "Why did our battlegrounds have to be so far away?"  
"It was a good location." Vash said.  
"But we are tired." Snowy pitched in. "This running is wearing me out."  
We ran for what seemed like a long time, so long that my eyelids were starting to get heavy, and not because I was tired and worn either. Suddenly, something caught my attention.  
There was a massive cloud of dust ahead, and out of it charged something that looked like the one thing I dreaded. Galdius.  
I had no clue why I feared him, more likely because of his looks them himself, not saying that he was a favorable person by that, though. And the other fact that he was trying to kill us, and Vash would have so stand up to him.  
Vash ran up to the field in front of us, waving a hand for us to charge.  
"Let's go." I sensed fire in his eyes as he ran towards Galdius with the Green Mist raised in the air and its sheath at his side. The two clashed right in the middle of the battle and started to fight. Kelli charged at Lumbeus, and the rest of us tried to get a knight each. The dwarfs were rather busy, talking out their swords (which, by the way, where HUGE, curved knives that looked like they were used more for butchering animals then for fighting) and slashing though the crowds of men, noble Uri workers and army officers both. There were only a few workers, though. They were inexperienced and didn't deserve to be out on the battlefield, but they were the patriots, and they had a right to fight. However, that gave us a right to kill.  
The dwarfs didn't care who were workers and who were members of the army. They slashed viciously through the crowd, and though the other side held up their shields to protect themselves, the dwarfs didn't give up, and nothing would stop them. They just had to look around to make sure that they weren't going to kill one of the other dwarfs (dressed in green with white feathers stuck through their ragged hats) and us.  
There were only five knights this time. Two had been killed, but I couldn't understand why we were missing one. And yet, I had that tingling feeling that Queen Jewel was still nearby. Sure, she had a right to watch. Mr. Clay and Clay the Elder were probably perched on top of a hill this very moment watching. However, it have me the creeps.  
I had little time to think about all this. My knight had changed, and this one was fiercer. I wondered, however, they would still have the energy to fight. But then considering the fact that we were only a couple of hundred yards away from that precious castle, I understood fairly clear why they stood up to this.  
The battle was very bloody. Kanari and Nakita were near the back, blinding and making the knights deaf, one by one. It was rather funny, because soon your knight couldn't do anything! But they did it mostly to the army. Having wings, they were able to fly over to the back of the army where they could affect the places where it was clear of dwarfs and us kids. This way, it was clear that no one would get really harmed.  
And Rene could destroy the deaf and blind after. This got rid of ¼ of the army quickly. However, the rest of the army, the part that had not come out to fight at Santa Aria, was arriving also. Twenty thousand new, refreshed, soldiers ran forward to replace the old ones. Our dwarfs were already worn enough, but still had enough energy to fight. The ground was so thick with bodies that it was hard for us to move through while fighting. And yet we continued.  
Vash and Galdius were cursing at each other while they fought.  
"I don't understand you, Vash!" Galdius said, charging at Vash's arm, the one that held the Green Mist. "Why must you be like this? You know you used to have a spectacular life with us. Seeking the freedoms, eh? Little boys love to dream." Galdius sighed and chuckled. Vash blocked Galdius's sword with one swift movement.  
"Freedom is very nice, Tis not the reason." Vash said as they took turns trying to slice one another. "I don't like this place, and it is not my home. To be whipped five times per day by an unholy man who calls himself my brother is not my sense of joy. And I'm not a little boy anymore."  
"You will always be little!" Galdius said. "And who dares call me an unholy man?" Vash chuckled, knowing that Galdius had no clue what that meant.  
"So where is this place you do call home?" Galdius sneered. "C'mon little Vash, tell me!" But Vash was concentrating on something else. With a flick of his wrist, he flicked and turned and sent Galdius's sword spinning out of his hand. It went flying several hundred feet and landed standing on a mound of earth, with the handle pointing up, and a little red ball with the flag pattern hanging to it.  
Galdius's eyes popped open and he grabbed Vash by the throat.  
"If I didn't hate you so much, you would be designing my swords and teaching me how to fight like that by now!" Galdius boomed.  
"You like my skills, don't you?" Vash asked, raising his sword. He aimed for Galdius's arm, but the deadly blow never came. There was a slight noise and light and everyone's head turned to watch Cherry. A little thing (Cherry) was floating on a small, white bubble, but it wasn't like floating, more like Cherry was surging up energy to keep itself afloat.  
"The leaf is gone!" Nakita's cry could be heard all the way from the edges of the battlefield. Galdius looked up and saw her.  
Indeed, the leaf was gone, and instead, it had curled itself up until it looked like a bulb. With all the energy it could muster, Cherry sent that bulb up in the air, where it blew up into a thousand pieces and released something that seemed like a million pellets. They sparkled like a diamonds in the sun. Cherry's light began to fade slowly, and she slumped down to the ground. All her energy was gone. She hadn't even said the name of her attack, for fear of breaking her promise to me. But the explosion when that bulb erupted sounded towards the lost and desolate corners of Uri. Everyone heard it.  
"It's the bell." A worker in the field said. "The end of this war is close." Of course, he was whipped for it, and had to work through the night without any dinner.  
Those pellets were deadly, and each had a spectacular aim. One hit Galdius in the cheek, and in an instant, he was flaming hot, his cheek was burnt, and his dark, cold blue eyes seemed to glow with anger. His fist shot out and collided with the sharp edge of Vash's sword, knocking Vash onto the ground and shearing the skin off of his knuckles. Vash rolled off of the grass and stood up again. He looked at Galdius, who was staring at his white knuckles. But they weren't white from doing work or whipping or punching someone. They were white because that was bone of the knuckles.  
If Lumbeus hadn't called for retreat, I don't know what would've happened. Most of the army had been hit with the many bullets from Cherry, who lay still in the grass. Galdius was first to right and last to retreat, which was very noble of him. His eyes still icy and blazing with hatred, he met Vash's glance. They seemed to send a message: We shall meet again.  
The remainder of the army started to retreat and got away; the dwarfs too tired to pursue to chase. Then suddenly, from the far corners of the battlefield, there were two running figures.  
"It can't be." Vash said. We looked at him, and then at those two tiny figures on the horizon. Vash had good eyesight, but what possibly could those figures be?  
"Vash?" Kelli asked, like a small child on a stormy night. "What is it?"  
"Lair and a knight." Vash answered. "With a small red thing that looks like a lizard."  
"Liz-oh no, Vash! It can't be!" Kelli cried.  
"What's wrong?" Kanari asked.  
"We're about to met Lair's pet dragon." Kelli answered. We looked on. The dwarfs had started an orderly retreat behind us to the lines, and so had the rest of the army of men. They slowly inched towards the castle, their eyes cast on the dragon. Not even a whole army of Fereos and men on them could defeat that thing. So they were glad. Was this the end of us?  
"Where's Nakita?" Rene asked. We looked around, and I finally spotted her.  
Ever since Cherry had landed on that soft grass, Nakita had dashed over to help. Now she soberly walked towards us, the fatigue figure in her arms. We waited for the news.  
"She's not dead." Nakita said, sobbing. We weren't sure if this meant that she was and Nakita was trying to convince herself that she wasn't or if this was the truth. Cerberus landed in a soft thump beside us. Anora came and spread out on the grass. They were exhausted, having taken care of much of the army that day. Cherry lay on the grass, motionless, and we decided she was dead.  
"Such a little thing." Rene said softly, patting the figure on the grass. Cerberus walked over and licked it.  
"There's got to be a way to bring her back." I said, trying not to let tears fall. Vash patted Nakita on the head as she sobbed beside Cherry. Liz and Snowy, afraid to let their feeling show, took post as guard and watched the dragon inch closer.  
"This silly war." Nakita said softly. "This is all my fault. If only I hadn't picked Cherry out, if only if I hadn't let myself go into that hole, if only if I had been more careful, and-"  
"I would have never had those beautiful days." Cherry said. WE looked down and saw that the small figure was lying on Cerberus's tongue, weakly looking up at Nakita.  
"Oo unt ouch er." Cerberus mumbled.  
"What?" Kelli asked.  
"You can't touch her." I translated. I couldn't explain how. It just came to me. Cherry laid her head down once again, and this time for keeps. Cerberus let her roll off of the tongue.  
"Would cordial help?" I asked. Cerberus shook his head.  
"Not in this case." Anora sighed.  
"No." She agreed. "Not this time." Nakita sat down and picked the warm (wet) body up. Pulling it close, she started to sob and cry.  
"Nakita." Vash said. "Stop blaming yourself." Nakita sniffed.  
"I'm sorry Vash, I can't help it." She said. Taking off her jacket, she wrapped it around Cherry. It was her cherished blue jacket, the one that she loved, the soft one she placed Cherry on with the touch of one that's been hurt.  
"If you want, Nakita, you can take this battle off." Kanari said boldly. She didn't feel like it was her responsibility to say that, but oddly enough, she had to. Nakita smiled into the other girl's eyes.  
"All right, thanks, Kanari." Nakita retreated to the back of the field.  
I looked around. Actually, it looked more like a meadow than a field. It would make a splendid meadow, if only Queen Jewel would stop mowing it and let the flowers grow. But she considered flowers weeds.  
Lair and the last knight were already close enough for us to see their faces. All the hatred that had been drained out of Vash's eyes with Nakita's tears returned instantly and they flashed as he set his eyes upon her. But the rest of us looked at the dragon and felt like we would give anything for a brick shelter to hide under.  
So mighty was the huge dragon, which looked twice the height and fifty times the width of Lair herself.  
"She must've had that a long time." Snowy said. The dragon spread out its wings, each more than fifty feet in length, twenty in width, and gave a puff. Smoke, white smoke, came out of his nostrils.  
"Oh yeah?" Vash said, snorting as well. "I can produce white smoke too!" It's red scales traveled along it's body, expect for it's slightly yellow belly, which looked stretchable to fit many children. Even the knight walking at its side seemed to edge away at times, but Lair proudly kept one hand on her pet and one on her sword, which lay concealed in her sheath.  
Vash took a couple steps forward and met Lair and the dragon face to face.  
"You're back." He said gravely. She flashed him a brilliant smile.  
"Aren't you glad to see me?" She added, "I wasn't happy what you let them do to me in the Fourth Dimension. You should've lived up to your honor and defended me!" Vash raised his eyebrows and looked her over. Her eyes were narrowed and her hands were raised. They were tattered and worn from raising her pet and doing so much work and looked as if they could slap harder than Kanari. Vash made a face.  
"What's wrong?" Lair asked. "Don't like the looks of my dragon?" The dragon heard something and titled his head. A puff of smoke was exposed to Vash's hair. Vash stood fuming. Lair chuckled.  
"Oh, I'm so sorry Vash!" She said, leaning forward to brush it off of his head. Along with the smoke, soot and other indescribable stuff had one out. Vash drew out his sword. "Vash, don't hurt it!" Lair said, crying out loud. "Stop it, what did it ever do to you? We can work out a verbal agreement."  
"Or we cannot." Vash offered.  
"Why do you have to be so difficult?" Whined Lair, stomping her feet. The rest of us watched. Nakita, who had a bundle (Cherry and the jacket) in her arms approached cautiously to watch the scene.  
"Tell me Lair." Vash said, with a quick glance at the castle. All of the men were already inside, and the dwarfs (who were afraid of the dragon) had disappeared into the underground. "Why do you bother me so? You know you came to fight, so why not get it over with?"  
"Well, a personal agreement would be better." Lair said, giggling. Kelli rolled her eyes and whispered to the rest of us,  
"Here we go again."  
"Does this happen often?" Doughboy asked. Kelli nodded.  
"What a great idea." Vash said. "How bout you letting me see your sword?"  
"Or the other way around." Lair suggested. They stood for a moment, glaring at each other, trying to appear sweet and persuasive. Lair drew out her sword slowly. She held it out at Vash, but not to him, her hand planted firm on the handle. Liz's sword was drawn as well, and my hand was already on a certain card in my pocket.  
"Galdius tells me you don't obey the rules." Lair said.  
"What rules, may I ask?"  
"The rules of him letting him have what he wants."  
"Like?"  
"Finder Keepers, Losers Weepers." She pointed at Nakita.  
"Notice it doesn't say you can't steal anything back, eh?" Vash chuckled and smiled for the first time. Lair shifted uneasily. She leaned on the dragon, who snorted and another cloud of smoke came out. The dragon yawned as Lair began to scratch it's back and settled down on the grass. It opened its mouth and a great flame of fire came out. His claws seemed very sharp. No one said anything for a while. Vash sniffed the air.  
It smelled like food. The rest of the kids and Lair noticed it too. The dragon lazily closed its eyes.  
"Then we'll fight for it." Lair suggested, but it seemed more like a command than a suggestion.  
"There are better things to fight for." Vash said. "Like the rights of others." His voice had an edge to it and his eyes seemed to glow. The light blue eyes seemed to turn amber, reflecting the dragon. "For ten years, Lair, I've been abused and whipped, and I'm finally old enough to stand for it and what I came here for. Ten Years. I will give the dwarfs back their land and drive everyone out!"  
"Ten years is longer than Queen Jewel has been ruling over this area." Lair said. "And why do you have to fight me to do it?"  
"You stand in the way." Vash grunted.  
"And if I move?"  
"The dragon stands, the stable dragon." Vash said. "That cannot be moved. You realize if I kill your pet you will try to kill me."  
"I will kill you."  
"I'd like to see you try." Lair pointed her sword at Vash and let it go against his neck. Vash smiled to himself. Even if her blade were against his neck, she would never kill him. He knew that. Lair put the sword back into the sheath.  
"Courage." Vash said. "Is a gift."  
"I don't see why you accompany yourself with that girl, though." She pointed at Kelli. "We all know she's not your real sister, that she just pretends it and that you two are all buddy-buddy because she's taken care of you."  
"That's not true."  
"Yes it is."  
"And how would you know?" Lair smiled mischievously.  
"I have my ways." Lair said. "Anyways, her eyes are deep blue, like Galdius's, and you're are light. She is no sister of yours. She's Galdius's sister."  
"Lair." Vash said, his patience wearing out. "It's not going to work." Lair sighed, and then tears started to leak out of her eyes.  
"Why did you have to create some sort of army that tries to kill everything our land has stood for?" She cried. "Vash, if you need to leave, why couldn't you have just left without leaving this bloody mess?" They looked around. There was a bloody mass of dead bodies lying everywhere around the green grass.  
"Yes, to let a country standing for slavery and hardships last." Vash said quietly. "Lair, it's time for old friends to become new enemies."  
"It has been time already." Kelli stepped forward. "It is our mission, our destiny to do all this, Lair, and you can't stop us."  
"Let me live!" Lair wept.  
"If you don't fight, you can perhaps stay in Uri or come somewhere with us." Vash lied. Lair sighed.  
"Well, if I must, I must get it over with." She looked in Vash's eyes. "I'm a nobleman's daughter, raised to right and to protect myself. The dwarfs will salvage whatever you leave alive. And so I must fight, for myself, for my family and race." She looked at both Vash and Kelli this time. "And since you don't care whether I live or not, let's get this battle rolling." She took two paces back, and then climbed onto the dragon's back and patted it.  
We all thought she was going to command it to right. But oddly, with teats in her eyes, the dragon lifted up. The knight's eyes grew large as he realized she had forgotten about him and that he would be left with us. Grabbing onto the dragon's pointy tail, he was lifted in the air also. No one had the heart to pursue the chase.  
"She'll be back to fight." Vash said. "Next time."  
"Hmm." Liz said.  
It was not our fault that the knight let go, or that the dragon happened to fly over a ravine. That knight never returned again, but we watched the dragon land inside the dome, coming in from the outside, through the windows that we had broken. Vash plopped down on the grass, looking up at the sky.  
"What a day." He murmured angrily, his voice furious, yet soft as not to stir any feelings. He got up and dragging his sword across the earth (which strangely looked like he was plowing it) walked slowly to the nearest entrance to the Underground. I forgot about Queen Jewel's feeling as we left the meadow. She was in the castle, watching our every move until we moved out of sight, therefore she did not know where we went when we disappeared into the Underground.  
Vash was quiet throughout dinner, a little upset and tired, and then walked up to his bed. Ruffled and angry, one took great caution not to insult him. He seemed sad, desolate, and his thoughts were wandering. He was remembering those childhood days with Lair. Hadn't he had fun then? But one look at the snoring Doughboy told him again and again that he was not a traitor. Taking his glasses off and laying them next to the lamp, Vash sighed contently in his bed, drifting off, and thinking how soft and nice it was to sleep in a bed at last.  
Kelli sighed, in her room. Her sigh reflected the thoughts of all the girls in the room. I was there, concentrating on the crystal ball, and for a while, all our feelings shone plainly. It was not easy being a girl fighting for rights and all. But then, it was not easy fighting. I thought of Vash. Even if you weren't a girl, life was still harsh when you were at war. I thought of the history books in our classroom and stained my pillow wet with tears. But we were doing a good deed here. A real good deed. And for all the people, we would be marked down as heroes for them, ensuring their freedom and rights.  
"Why is this whole thing about rights?" Nakita said. "It should be more about how much you care for others and what you think and seem to do for other people and how much you care for things as a whole, not just rights. But I like the part about standing for something right. Everything has consequences, I should know." Her sad, once merry eyes seemed to look right past me.  
"It's all right Nakita."  
"I've lost someone." Nakita said. "And yet I feel has if I've gained nothing, not even a lesson."  
"Now that's freaky." Kanari agreed. Nakita sighed.  
"I just wish this thing was over with." Liz added. "That way we wouldn't have to kill!"  
"I personally agree." Nakita said. "But I do feel it's brought us all closer and gave us more to realize about the things that mean the most to us. It's a lesson and it's made us wiser for all."  
"Yes." I said slowly. "It has."  
  
Vash: Rubbing eyes* What's with this talk in the end?  
Yuki: Sorry, trying to end it somehow...rememeber to review, or to come back and to review that Easter fic...you skipped a part in there.  
Vash: Oops.  
Yuki: Ahh...*sighs from content* I own Jewel Quest once again....*smiles* now I can start writing Digimon Romance!  
Vash: *blink?* oh my *groan*  
Yuki: You should like Ulala when we went on that roller coaster ride...she said it when we went on the two Dueling Dragons, Fire and Ice, and on the Hulk.  
Vash: Where?  
yuki: IOA.  
Vash: Well, all right, wrap this up Yuki, so you can get writing.  
Yuki: That's all you care about, me write and have no fun *pout*  
Vash: ...  
Yuki: You don't write half as much as I do!  
Vash: Well, you have your reviews.  
Yuki: Fine, be that way! Bye! *starts crying* 


	26. The Strange, the Lonely, and the Beautif...

Yuki: CCS does not belong to me and this is probably the longest chapter.  
Vash: I thought the last one...oh no, Yuki!  
Yuki: I thought you liked long ones. You said Jewel Quest was too short a story.  
Vash: And this one is how many pages?  
Yuki: Only 9  
Vash: Only?  
Yuki: I really like this one, so please read, all right?  
  
The Strange, the Lonely, and the Beautiful  
Vash, who was shaking me furiously, wakened me up. He stopped a moment later and I opened my eyes, seeing him trying to wake everyone else up too. Doughboy stood by the door and Kelli was helping.  
"What's going on?" I managed to croak, my throat being so dry.  
"We're going to attack." Vash said. "Yes Yuki, during the night." I reached for my glass of water.  
"Wow." Nakita said. Nearby, Kanari shifted and sat up in her bed.  
"And in what clothes?" She mumbled.  
"Whatever you can find." Vash said, leaving the room. "Clay the Elder and the rest of the army have been notified. They're coming with us and-"  
"Wait, you mean Clay the Elder is coming too?" Snowy asked. Vash paused in the doorway.  
"Well, technically, yes." He said. Vash lowered his voice. "Clay the Elder was known as the deadliest archer in his time. I don't know if he still has the touch (Vash's eyes strayed off and he trailed off for a while) but he is determined to see this battle."  
"Then we better make it a good one!" I said, throwing a fist into the air. Vash disappeared and Kelli pushed Doughboy out of the room.  
"They have to CHANGE." She said.  
We didn't really have many clothes. Except for the dresses given to us (those fluffy, elegant dresses that we went shopping for herbs in), which were in the huge closet in the room, and Rene's costumes (somehow they had popped up on us in the middle of battle and we had found our usual clothes all cleaned in the closet, we also had nightgowns, but that was practically it.  
"I don't think we should fight in those costumes." Kanari said.  
"Why not?" Rene asked.  
"Well, it's all right." Kanari said. "Just, I don't know, something wrong with it."  
"I think it might be the self-consciousness." I said. "I think I'd feel better if I wore my ordinary clothes, and looked like an ordinary kid than wearing a battle (looks at Rene's costumes) clothes. I mean, they're great and all, but I just think they might be a distraction."  
"It might help us think and feel better about ourselves." Nakita offered. "And they're probably more comfortable."  
"You're right." Rene said, giving in. Pulling a red sweater over her neck, she looked over Dwarf Land out the window. "I wonder how could it's going to be?" She wore black pants. Running a comb through her hair, she was the first out the door.  
Kanari was second, dressed in a yellow striped sweater. I changed into a green shirt, plopped on a hat, and was about the last one out when I suddenly spotted Nakita in a corner.  
She had her blue jacket on, as usual. It was a soft, baby blue colored jacket. When she finished dressing, she picked up Cherry and headed towards the door. I smiled sadly.  
Vash was in the library when we entered, along with Kelli. Kelli was reading something out of a book and Vash was dipping this sword in something. Then he stuck the sword out to the fire, turned it over, and held it in the air to cool. Kelli took whatever was left in the cup Vash dipped it in and poured it into a burgundy bottle. We watched, astonished, until Vash stuck his sword into the sheath and headed towards the door.  
"What was that?" Liz asked.  
"Poison." Vash said. His eyes were deadly.  
As soon as we got outside, I felt disappointed. I didn't know what I was expecting, perhaps some greetings, but all I saw were Clay the Elder and something white. I thought maybe it was a ghost. Mr. Clay and the General of the Army had already started moving, since we could travel faster than they could. The white thing turned out to be a great, flying horse. Clay the Elder climbed onto it's back and gave it a lump of what could've been sugar.  
"All ready?" Clay the Elder grinned at the nervous faces. "C'mon, this is the battle of our lives, something to be cherished!"  
"And we shall come out as heroes." Vash added.  
"All right, I'll lead." Clay the Elder patted the horse's neck and it started to fly. I gazed at the flying beast for a second before I realized the others had sprouted their wings. Rene was seating Liz, while Kanari and Snowy dragged Doughboy along (he had his bubble out, but it was too slow). Kelli was up by Clay the Elder.  
"Hey Yuki!" Nakita called. I was watching the others in the sky when I turned to look at her. She was floating in the air, her two hands on Vash's arm. "Help me."  
"I could use a lift, you know." Vash said.  
"Oh, sorry." I said, running over to help. We started to fly towards our destination.  
We must've flown quite a long time. What I remember most about that journey are the endless times Vash checked that pocket watch. It was silver now, though. Vash said it was because of the dwarf air.  
At last, when we got to the hatch, we could see the last of the men crawling out of Dwarf's Land and into the jungle by the forest.  
"Vash, directions?" Clay the Elder asked. Vash murmured,  
"I've gotta learn to fly somehow." And ordered us to get him up front. "All right, this is what will happen." Vash grinned. Somehow, it made us all feel better. "We're going to try to get into the castle without anyone knowing where we came from. Who cares if they see us? Our destiny is to destroy every one of them here tonight. Rene, when it's time to signal for the guards, I'll tell you, and shoot several Golden Rings into the air. That should be easy to spot." Rene nodded. "Let's go." Vash put his hand out. Nakita and I (straining to keep him afloat with one hand only, he was practically abutted on us) put our hands over it, joined by Kanari, Snowy, Liz, Doughboy, Rene, Kelli, and then, slowly, Clay the Elder. He chuckled.  
"Seems I'll never grow old, or out of my adventures." He smiled. "Someday, I reckon, I'll have to tell you of all my boyhood dreams and doings." We all looked at each other with smiles on our faces.  
"Let's go." Vash repeated.  
It was like a flash, as we surged up past the ladder and into the cold, night air. A soldier placed the circle of grass back into place. We were on top of the forest.  
It didn't take much work to fly across the castle without being seen. The guards were injured from last time and there was a lack in workers. We landed in the dome. Creaking open a door, Vash peered into the dark hallway.  
"I reckon we should just shoot a missile." Kero said. He was still on top of my hat, where he had been the whole journey. Anora had been in Kelli's hands. A dormant Cherry lay tucked in Nakita's jacket, with her head peeping out.  
"Release." A couple of voices whispered. With our weapons ready, I decided to grant Kero the first shot of this battle. Turning him into Cerberus quickly, I let him free.  
"Missile Launcher." He said, towards the open door. There was the sound of a million bullets, echoing into the dark hallway. Suddenly, the lights snapped on in the whole dome.  
"They've been expecting us?" Liz asked, frightened.  
"Somewhat." One of the guards said. They entered, and we saw that it was just a couple of guards. Then the other door opened a few minutes later, and we saw Galdius rushing in, with a flag, followed by knights and the remaining army, lined up in position. The last one to enter was a girl.  
Lair flashed us her most charming smile and the dragon hissed.  
I had a flashback.  
"My dream!" I said.  
Galdius lunged at Vash, and the two started to have a combat in the middle of the dome.  
"That won't do!" Kelli said. "The rest of us have to fight here! Blow Hole!" She aimed it at the floor, and suddenly, the whole floor collapsed, sending everyone a few hundred feet down. We all lay in a pile of rubble.  
"Smooth move, Kelli." Vash said, picking himself off of the floor. Galdius and Vash started to fight again, but in a more private quarter.  
"I think we're in the basement." Kelli said. We heard a roar from above. The dragon was righting a one on one with Cerberus. Cerberus, the only one who had not fallen down, had challenged the great dragon. With Lair on it's back, it was deadly. I spread my wings and look a mighty leap upwards.  
"Wait, Yuki!" Liz called. Ignoring her, I reached Cerberus.  
The rest of the group down in the basement had already started to fight. Liz, with her rapier, pulled ruse after ruse and sliced many a person. Doughboy was hiding behind a crate, messing around with people's memories and having the time of his life. Rene was shooting a whole lot of Power Hoops (yes, the first few ere dangerous, but the rest of them were pretty well aimed) from her position in the air. Vash and Galdius were trying to outmatch each other. As Clay the Elder had expected, the rest of the crew, the guards and rest of the army had arrived (only about twenty people). He shot most of them with that deadly arrow, and the horse opened his mouth, allowing a shock bomb to come out and flatten out the top of the castle. The castle was being reduced to rubble.  
"You'd think that the dwarf's would've wanted the castle." Snowy said, using her wand to bind people, belittle people, and do all sort of horrifying things to people. "But I guess they plan to build a new one."  
"Yeah." Nakita said. "This one has too many bad memories." She was teamed up with Kanari, making people deaf and blind.  
I was against Lair, a very deadly job.  
"Watery Card, Release and Dispel!" I thrust the wand into the watery, and in a few minutes, the power of the card was ready.  
"What can that do?" Lair asked, more in a mocking tone than anything.  
"That." I snapped my fingers and the next second: Lair's face was all wet.  
"Ooh!" Lair said and started saying a lot of gibberish, which I later realized was some sort of cussing. The dragon raised his head and sent a jet full of fire right at Cerberus and me.  
"Missile Launcher." Cerberus had an easy target. However, the bullets just burned up.  
"Ah!" I said. "Watery!" The Watery Card emerged right between the flames and us. After the fire was gone, I breathed a great sigh of relief. "We need to destroy this monster, and I'm not very good at destroying things." I whined.  
"Freeze Card, Release and Dispel!" I called. The freeze card emerged and tried to freeze the monster. This didn't take long.  
"Missile Launcher." Cerberus said for the third and last time. The missiles aimed for the frozen monster. I half expected it to crack the ice, but there was one great, huge cloud of dust and I saw the missiles stuck in the ice, unable to explode, piercing the dragon's skin, especially it's belly. It howled and blasted a stream of fire onto the wall by the done, setting it into flames and several objects (portraits, etc.) fell and became flaming balls of fire, headed right towards the basement!  
"Watery!" I howled. The Watery went and demolished the fire, only sending a spray of debris down within. "Quick, Cerberus, aim your Rocket Blaster!" Cerberus followed my advice. The missile came out of his mouth and hit the dragon full force in its mouth. Then something astonishing happened.  
I'm not sure how to describe it. It's more like the dead just disappeared into the air and split into a thousand pieces, while the frozen body shot out of the broken windows of the dome. Lair screamed, and within myself, aside from the white gruesomeness of the scene, I was strangely pleased. However, my duty was not done yet. Lair, who did not have wings, who had ever cared for wings, jumped down several hundred feet into the basement and sliced off a piece of someone else's arrow at the attempt to get everyone's attention. Cerberus dived in after her, and I, after confining the Watery and Freeze Cards and summoning the Sword, quickly followed.  
Lair was an experienced swordsman, or woman, should I say. She tackled Kelli first, and the two were engaged in mortal combat. Lumbeus and the rest of the knights lay as brave men on the basement floor, while the battle still raged. Clay the Elder and the winged horse (an original Fereos) calmly reduced the rest of the castle to ashes and rubble.  
"She's a tough one." Liz said. Rene blew up some crates, allowing them to see some other people hiding behind the crates. They were clearing the basement.  
"You ought to be more careful about where you cut and slice and hit." Kelli said, dodging a blow from Lair, who was ducking from Anora's vicious claws. "Or else this whole basement could be flooded by blood." It was true. Blood was spewed all over the place, the walls, the floor, everywhere. While the last few men were hit and taken care of, Vash had taken the Blue Mist and made a clean cut along Galdius's arm. The poison leaked in. Galdius stumbled, flung his sword up in the air, and it, the sword flew several feet in the air: straight at Nakita.  
"Nakita, watch out!" Vash lunged for her, knocking her out of the way. They crashed into several crates, which fell over and hit them. Snowy ran over and picked up the sword before anyone could object.  
"Heavy." She said. Several armed people jumped out from the crates where Vash and Nakita had crashed into, but they were too slow. They were demolished within a second by those great Golden Rings.  
"This battle is over." Vash said, emerging from the crates, dusting him up, followed by a badly shaken Nakita.  
"Not so fast." The door slammed open; off its hinges, filled with light.  
Light from a torch.  
It was her, Queen Jewel. Who could've been worse? The most feared person who had ever raged the Fifth Dimension.  
Her blue eyes were pale, almost as deadly as Vash's, but it had amusement to it, and it was followed by a chuckle. Galdius stood in a corner, his head down, and Lair and Kelli stood posed, swords were still, gazing at the monster before them. Queen Jewel stiffened, and reaching behind her, she deposited three figures: Eriol, Ariel, and Colton.  
I stifled a cry. The three figures that had lead us all into this, that had caused all of this. Eriol was hardly awake, mumbling and rubbing his eyes. Ariel was looking around, seeming aware of the things around. But Colton, now, I almost felt sorry for him. He was curled up in a corner, licking his paws sadly. It broke my heart.  
"Go ahead." Queen Jewel ordered. "Attack. What are you waiting for?"  
Ariel stood up slowly, and withdrew her sword. I saw that she was dressed in quite shabby clothes: Just a plain old shirt with a black skirt. She looked almost human, and her eyes were tired. But as she looked around, she recognized the four of us. And the first one she lunged at was no other than Liz.  
Engaged in battle, she was furious. Liz's hair was almost cut off in battle, and twice, if it had not been for Anora's attacks, Liz's mistakes could've been fatal. At this signal, Galdius, Vash, Kelli, and Lair all started to fight again. Eriol charged at Snowy, who outsmarted him by tying him up in with ribbons.  
"And so, not for long." Queen Jewel said. Her voice was hardly above a whisper. "You have not even seen the REAL POWERS OF ME!" Her voice booming like thunder, she aimed her torch thing at us. It glowed and suddenly, I felt myself lifted clear of the ground, and then deposited straight into the sides of a few crates.  
"Ow!" I cried as she made us fly around the room like a bunch of stuffed animals.  
"Golden Rings!" Rene called, but Queen Jewel placed me in front of her.  
"Ah, no!" I screamed. Vash ran up and reflected the attack with his sword, since he was not being controlled. It hit Lair in the jaw, sending her tumbling into Galdius, who groaned. The poison was getting to him. Snowy thrashed around with the sword, so we thought to stay clear of her. She somehow hit Eriol on the leg and the next second he was bleeding.  
"Time to take it wild." Queen Jewel aimed her long stick with the claws and globe at the ground. Suddenly, with a swirl of colors, the ground seemed just to open up and swallow us in. The next second, all we could see was darkness. I was glad that Clay the Elder was not with us. I wasn't sure it he could handle all this, and I was glad that he was destroying the castle. Little did I know that while half of the dwarf's waited for that never to come signal, the other half were in the fields, beating up the Queen's men and setting the workers free, with a promise we'd come back for them.  
As I looked around, I noticed for the first time that my green, straw hat was not on my head. In face, Queen Jewel was spinning it around in the air, surveying it.  
"You leave that alone." I said, and felt myself being thrown backwards. I hit something solid, but the next minute, I could regain control of my wings and return to my friends.  
"Her powers are just so unlimited." Vash said as we watched her play with different people. Lair, Eriol, Ariel, and Galdius returned to her side. Surprisingly, though, Colton took a position next to us. He smiled at Cerberus and attacked with the same missile launcher. That was enough for me. He was on our side.  
I was so happy I wanted to go up and kiss him, but that could wait. Rene's attacks were useless against Queen Jewel, with nothing we could do. However, Nakita and Kanari could still attack. They had just enough time to make Ariel and Eriol deaf and blind when Queen Jewel put an end to it by wrapping them around a cord. Then she seemed to think it was a good idea and started to do that to all of us, but not before Rene got mad.  
"Power Hoops!" The two shot out and hit Eriol and Ariel, smack in the face. They were reduced to nothing. Lair gasped. Galdius clutched at his arm.  
"You think it's always a friendly battle, even against people who used to be your friends?" Vash demanded. Queen Jewel tied him up and stuffed something in his mouth. I rushed to cut the cords, but they wouldn't cut, and Nakita managed to pull out something furry out of Vash's mouth.  
"Grr." I mumbled. "I want my hat back." I glared at Queen Jewel. She seemed to read my mind, and reached for it. "Don't you dare! Light Card, stop her from touching my hat!" The Light Card surged forward, while something dropped back into my hand. Ah, the Sword Card had turned back into a card when I used my wand. "Windy, get my hat back!" Windy lunged forward, bringing my hat back (though it wasn't much use, still). I shuffled through my cards.  
"Use time." Cerberus said, aiming more missiles at Queen Jewel, who was trying to avoid the Light Card. Somehow, she was afraid of it. The missiles, plus Colton's, hit everything in it's path. Galdius, with all that pain and his wound, fainted. Lair screamed, a piercing scream, and started to sob. The Light Card disappeared from view, but came back once the missiles were gone.  
"Sweet Card!" I summoned. The Sweet Card rushed forward and turned Queen Jewel's wand into a big, messy, warm, and chocolate bar. Queen Jewel was disgusted.  
"You all think that you will win." She boomed. "But I will get you all. Ring of Death!" Vash's eyes expanded to the size of an egg, along with Kelli's.  
"Her ultimate attack." They managed to croak.  
We were trapped. The everlasting darkness approached us in a big circle, with no escape.  
"You were always a strange kid, Vash." Queen Jewel said as the ring split and each one of us started to have an individual circle shrink towards us. I would have much rather just had one huge circle, it'd be more comforting, but Queen Jewel knew that, and she wanted this experience to be as crushing and ghastly as possible.  
"You never wanted to do what the rest of the land wanted to do, you had your own ways and ideas, your own trainings and sessions, and I knew this was coming, someday." She said. "And yet, you were obedient. Very. Like a child, I suppose, you listened to everything. But you were a leader. So I guess it was YOU who stirred him on." She turned to Kelli. "Yes, you, you lonely little girl who used to wander the halls at night with a blanket and cry for momma. And when I came out you cried, and said I wasn't your mother. You were the smart one, all right, but not full of wits. You needed something to back you up, and your brother was mighty fine for that job. You were two awkward kids, you know, one strange and the other one lonely, always needing someone, what a balance." She chuckled. Kelli's temper boiled (and I tell ya, that was the first and last time I had ever seen it boil in that journey, she was such a good, spirited, young girl that I could hardly believe that a single word coming out of Queen Jewel's mouth was true and worthy of. But a glance at Kelli proved it so. Lair stood there, with a mocking gaze, mostly at Vash.  
"Maybe what I lacked the most was the result of me being lonely." Kelli's voice cracked. "Maybe what I wanted the most was a mother, what you weren't and never were, however you pretended to be. Oh, I saw Queen Jewel, the way you acted could've fooled some, but not me. I knew from the start that you were not my mother, but the creator of something large, and perhaps the very person that destroyed my mother."  
"How care you say that I have no, no, and well, how dare you well, at least you know that your mother is dead." Queen Jewel's eyes blazed. "Your mother." The mouth moved slightly. "Was my sister."  
"No!" A cry emerged from deep within Kelli. Vash tried to comfort her, but he was as shocked himself.  
"Not exactly sister." Queen Jewel. "I rather did like that scare. She was an orphan, and we found her from Genesis, the planet where I came from." Her voice was dim, like as if it was telling something, perhaps a story, coming from the past. "It was just at the end of the war, and they decided that Genesis, the planet, should be left on it's own. I was not as old as I now am at that time. I hardly remember what they were arguing about. Genesis was a mutual planet, split between two other planets, and it was about land. War broke out, and there was an agreement stating that Genesis be left alone and uninhabited for two hundred thousand Third Dimension years. Then suddenly, as the last ship left Genesis, the planet spun out of orbit. Yes Lair, they had flying ships for transportations back then. Quite nice. Most of the folks there were old and died soon after, with them was my father. When this orphan girl came to us, we took her in. Genesis happened to pass Uri and we stopped and got off from the dead and desolate planet. On Uri, we told everyone she was my sister. Later, people started to arrive. My father had magical powers and made himself king of Uri, but his reign was not nearly complete as he had not finished taking over when he fell ill and died. I took over, and this world was hence mine. However, everyone thinks I did most of the work. Your mother died shortly." Queen Jewel's eyes shifted. "It was for a good purpose."  
"There was a good purpose for you to kill her?" Vash asked, fists clenched. Queen Jewel nodded.  
"A very good purpose. However, you were all born already, so I raised you among my own. Now you see, I did not pick you out of the Fourth Dimension like I did many others."  
"And our father?" Kelli asked.  
"He died in battle, trying to declare independence for this nation." Queen Jewel said, and the wickedness returned in her eyes. "He was the first son of Clay the Elder."  
"So Clay the Elder is our grandfather and Mr. Clay is our uncle!" Vash cried.  
"Not for long."  
The rings were coming closer. Queen Jewel was weakening the Light Card too, but I didn't know how. The card seemed to shrink back and suddenly disappeared into a ray of light that streaked back into my pocket, where it turned back into a card. I felt tears coming on. Would we ever get out of this mess? Would this battle never be over, or was it going to end here, with us in defeat?  
"No." I said, somewhat as if crying it would stop, weeping like a child. "NO!" As I screamed, I suddenly felt a light glowing all around me. It seemed to be coming from my heart, inside my shirt. I looked around and noticed it was happening to the others too.  
"What's happening to the children?" Cerberus asked.  
"It must be some magical powers." Anora said.  
"Did Yuki summon them?" Colton asked.  
"Look." The light beams shot out and met in the center, like our hands did. And from the light, a figure started to form and emerge. After a while, all the light was sucked out, and the rest of us, exhausted, crumpled up and watched the scene.  
Who was it? Marium? No, it was Ms. Jewel. She looked so beautiful, gleaming with radiance all over. She turned and faced Queen Jewel, emitting energy all over.  
It was then when another miracle happened. Cherry, who had been dormant for so long, started to twitch. Nakita gave a startled cry of surprise and watched a tiny bulb peep out from Cherry's head and grow larger. "Must be the energy from Ms. Jewel." Suddenly, Cherry opened her large, amber eyes, and gazed up.  
"Oh." She mumbled. "Nakita?" Nakita shrieked and squeezed Cherry tight, unable to help the tears streaming down her cheeks.  
"Queen Jewel." Ms. Jewel said. "You have been such a pain to the world, such a terror, and we shall now bring a stop to you and your evil ways. This is a must."  
"But how?" Queen Jewel challenged.  
"The Forces Of Light Are Always Greater Than The Forces Of DARKNESS!" Ms. Jewel's voice seemed to howl. Queen Jewel looked down at her body and was surprised to see her body start to crumble.  
"No, no, no!!!!!!!!!!" She cried. The dark rings around us were disappearing. Galdius looked up and was just as surprised.  
"Mom!" It just seemed to break my heart to hear him call like that, but then I remembered all the evil things that he had done, and my pity vanished. Why should I ever care for what he thinks?  
"Let me handle this one." With Queen Jewel unable to help, Colton destroyed Galdius. It was terrifying to see him vanish, with remnants of what looked like ashes scattered over the darkness. Queen Jewel was already up to her waist, disappearing more and more every second.  
"And yet." Kelli said. "The Strange, the Lonely, and the Beautiful (smiles at Ms. Jewel) manage to destroy the one who thought she was all evil." Queen Jewel's eyes were lost, and we didn't even know what she was thinking, but she stood looking at the spot Galdius had disappeared.  
"My son." Were her last words as the last of her evaporated into darkness and Queen Jewel was suddenly gone.  
We had destroyed her. Uri was saved. Our quest, this long battle of hardships, was complete.  
  
Vash: Whoa...deep...not that type of deep but...  
Yuki: Yeah, could you please review this time.  
Vash: Stop asking me.  
Yuki: I should go on strike, but I've only got a couple more to go...save it for Black Magic.  
Vash: All right.  
Yuki: And I put all my chapters up on my web page like you told me too...the link's down tho, you can't get to it because I cut it because a certain someone tried to get to it.  
Vash: Who?  
Yuki: Tell ya later. I should put spoliers on the next chapter on here...what do you think? 


	27. 

Yuki: *crying openly*  
Vash: Oh great, what NOW?  
Yuki: You're so mean *wipes tear* Could me more sympathetic.  
Vash: What's the matter?  
Yuki: Now I'm not talking to you anymore...okay, the rest of ya, this chapter kinda lacks plot because it was written at four different times and then I was too lazy to read it over to get in the feeling like I do in my romance fics, so enjoy, please Read and Review, the last paragraph gives off a cliff-hanger somewhat, however.  
  
Me and My Shadows  
Subdued from the lack of excitement that had happened that night, the rest of us were rather quiet as our surroundings became more and more familiar and we found ourselves back into the basement room.  
Lair was crying openly. If she wanted to run, she could've, but she was too astonished to run, and she didn't know where to run.  
"Well, well." Vash said.  
"Vash." Ms. Jewel walked over. "I'd rather if you didn't tell Clay the Elder you're his grandson."  
"You mean he doesn't know?" Vash asked, surprised. Ms. Jewel shook her head sadly.  
"After all those years, he still thinks that you got away somewhere and had a happy life, or something like that. And Mr. Clay does not know that his brother was related to Queen Jewel or any of it. It is just such a disgrace. Mr. Clay doesn't even know of the war. Clay the Elder won't speak of it. It gives him too much grief. All Mr. Clay knows, or thinks, at least, is that he had a brother who died of illness when Clay was very young." Ms. Jewel said. "It would cause much explaining and come rather as a shock. Clay the Elder might be glad, but there's always been some connection between the two of you, but the rest of the people might not like it."  
"He said he felt like I was his grandson when I used to visit." Vash said, his eyes distant. Ms. Jewel smiled.  
"He has to go soon, you know." Vash nodded. "He's an old man, and it'd be harder for him if he knew that he was a grandson. Once he's gone, I will tell him, and he won't regret a thing."  
"How'd you know?" Vash asked.  
"I know." Ms. Jewel said with a warm smile. "Because these things last longer in other places (she didn't say what). He'll be waiting for you. You have a long life in front of you, Vash. It would cause you much pain also. Relatives aren't always there when you need them. You can't rely on your uncle. I'm not exactly sure, but I just think that if you're his grandson, that would stir up a lot."  
"There's something else." Kelli said quietly. "Vash, you might now know this, since it was a law passed while you were very little, but it was passed by an independence group (I think it was the dwarfs, was it the dwarfs, Ms. Jewel? Oh, yes, it was them, yes, yes.), a group of dwarfs, that state that anyone related to the Queen after the death of downfall of her shall be killed.  
"But that wouldn't count, since we helped save Uri, would it?" Vash asked.  
"I think it would." Kelli said quietly. "Just because then not so many lives would've been lost." Vash looked down.  
"So that's the real reason."  
"I'm sorry." Ms. Jewel said. "But I don't want to put anyone in danger."  
"What about her?" Snowy pointed at Lair. Lair stiffened.  
"We'll deal with her later." Ms. Jewel said. "Right now there's something more important to deal with." She faced Liz and knelt down. "Liz, I know you think fighting is bad, and that is has to be done for a purpose. I've tried to make you see that, but it is unsuccessful, and you have spoken your wish to be an ordinary kid, but still want these memories. So here are the conditions." She walked over and picked up Snowy's wand. "You will have the memory, but if you open your mouth to say a single world about it, you will find that you will not be able to find your voice." Ms. Jewel recited a single spell. "There you go, and now you cannot talk to me either. Second of all, you must leave your rapier." Liz gently set that down.  
"Oh, Liz, are you sure about this, sure you want to go?" Rene asked. Liz nodded silently, but grimly.  
"Third of all, you will be teleported back right now, before the others, to the front door of your house, where you will say to your parents you have decided to come home early. You will not be able to write about this adventure, quest, destiny, whatever you call it either, all right?" Liz nodded. "Now be gone." With a tap on the head, Liz was gone. Ms. Jewel handed the rapier to Snowy, who was holding Galdius's sword, and exchanged it with her.  
"So we just lost a person?" Kanari asked. Doughboy squatted on the ground and sighed.  
Ms. Jewel frowned. There seemed something else she had to do, but she couldn't remember what.  
"Oh yes." She said. "You were wondering about how I came out, someone."  
"Yes." Nakita said.  
"Each one of you contains a heart as pure as a jewel, and when all those hearts combine, I come out. It's as I said, Yuki may have the body of that Jewel, but truly, my soul is in all of you, and when you needed me the most, I came out. I am a jewel, remember?"  
"Yes, I do." Nakita said.  
"So then, all your power, all the little bits of me were combined, through your loyal hearts, and then, suddenly, I appeared and had the power to help and heal." She smiled, looking at a Cherry, whose big eyes were full of love and gratitude.  
"Well then, I have to be gone." With a swift mist, she disappeared. Vash sighed.  
Spreading our wings, we landed on the ground outside the flattened castle with a tied up Lair.  
"Whoa, good job." Vash said, looking around at him. "You could hardly have guessed there once stood a mighty fortress here." Clay the Elder smiled at him.  
"I have heard about the Mistress Jewel." He said quietly. "Congratulations."  
Vash put Lair in front of him. "What should I do about her?" Clay the Elder pondered this.  
"Leave her to deal with later." He said. "The rest of the army have gone and are currently finishing freeing the other slaves. They will get a good night's rest, and tomorrow, start building a ship."  
"A ship? What for?" Rene asked.  
"Tell her, Anora." Anora sighed and sat down on the grass.  
"Genesis is approaching the orbit of Uri, and it is predicted that the two planet's magnetic fields will be hooked onto each other." Anora said. "Thus, you will have two planets linked together, going in the same orbit as if it was one planet. We gave decided: This planet, Uri, rightfully belongs to the dwarfs, and the workers can establish their own colony on Genesis."  
"How do you know all this?" Kelli asked.  
"I have connections." Anora looked at the Pure Fereos.  
"And for that reason, after you all get a good night's sleep, we shall dig through the rubble and retrieve anything worthy to put on that ship, as gifts towards the workers." Clay the Elder said. "The dwarfs have their own system of reading and things."  
"But Genesis is a deserted planet." Snowy said. "Barren, nothing living, no atmosphere."  
"Not true." Clay the Elder said. "There was once atmosphere, and there still is. And now, after all those years, the planet has regrown, full of luscious plants and animals, and the source of life, water."  
"Whoa." I said.  
"The lost planet of Genesis, the planet swung out of orbit, has returned." Clay the Elder said. There was a moment of silence. Then-  
"Let us be going for the last night in the Underground, at least the last night Queen Jewel walked the earth." Clay the Elder looked hopeful. "I know it may be too much, but could you help us clean up this mess?"  
"Yes." Vash said. "We will help (Doughboy: Why does he get to decide? Snowy: [pokes Doughboy] Shut up) you get whatever if of worth to the workers and give them to them. Do they have education?"  
"I'm afraid not." Clay the Elder said. "And Mister Clay is the mayor of Dwarf Land, unable to teach. However, I do not expect you to do anything about that. There are a few that can teach. That will be enough teachers for the whole colony to learn. Right now, let's go and rest."  
As we flew over the forest and descended into the tunnel, the sun was slowly rising.  
When we reached the mayor's house, we didn't even think to change but fell asleep. I slept in my hat as well, Kero and Spinel Sun sleeping on a vacant pillow on the floor.  
We had done quite a job.  
I woke to the sun streaming in from the window. Getting up, I walked over to the window and pulled the curtain aside to look out. The curtain was big and pink, purple, and blue, also fluffy, throwing rays of light throughout the room. Outside, the sun was big in the sky, and it looked welcoming. I looked around. All seemed quiet from my view. I looked back in the room.  
Kelli was already making her bed, and Kanari and Nakita were rubbing their eyes. Cherry was whimpering and Kero and Spinel Sun (whom I had just yesterday nicknamed Suppi) were playing a game on the bed. Anora was hiding behind Snowy's covers, shielding herself from the light. Rene was jumping up and down on her bed, laughing and looked very happy.  
"We've finally won." She collapsed onto the bed. "It feels good, doesn't it?"  
"There is a new light in the world, suddenly." Kelli mused. She smiled. "C'mon, let's all go down and have breakfast."  
"To think." I said, skipping down the stairs after Kelli. "That after all those months, things are finally back to normal!"  
"Yuki?" Kanari asked. "I think that was only one month."  
"And things will never be the same way they used to be." Nakita said sadly. "We'll never be the innocent, lively, self-centered kids we were."  
"I, for one, an glad." Snowy said. "Just yesterday I found a spell that does sums out for you!"  
"But suppose your powers went away when we finally returned back to earth?"  
"Now why on earth would it do that?"  
"Well, we don't need them anymore."  
"I need them, to do my sums!"  
"I don't think we should let our powers affect our lives." I said. "We should just protect to be normal kids and try to forget about our powers until dangers comes (catches Snowy's eyes), IF danger comes, that is."  
"That's a good idea." Kelli said.  
"Where would you and Vash stay?" I asked Kelli. She shrugged.  
"Where we've been staying, I guess." She replied. "In the apartment. Don't worry Yuki, we can support ourselves, we have these pendants around our necks (that is, Vash carries his in his pockets, and though I think he's gonna lose them, he hasn't yet) and inject ourselves with them. They help feed us. I guess they're equivalent to one meal, but when we grow up, I think I'd rather live on food. And we can earn enough to support ourselves."  
"To pay rent?" I raised my eyebrows.  
"We brought the apartment with money Queen Jewel gave us." She said.  
"Wow, injecting foods with pendants, that's like heroin and needles." Kanari said. We reached the dining room and looked in.  
Vash was eating, Doughboy was sitting across from him, and a stubborn Lair was there also. The piece of cloth was gone from her mouth, and when we entered, she started to yell.  
"Gosh." Kelli said. Lair was bounded to a chair, her auburn hair blazing. The others took a seat at the table. It had a checkered blue and white tablecloth over it. Odd. I wondered what happened to the last one. Throughout breakfast, Lair clamed down a little, but as the conversation flowed, Vash seemed unusually quiet. I wondered, hmm?  
"Vash, what's wrong?" Kelli whispered. She was sitting on the other side of Vash.  
"Wrong?" Vash whispered back.  
"Yes." Kelli said. "You're so quiet, and, oh, I dunno, something's on your mind."  
"Kelli." Vash said very seriously. "The Dwarfs are going to kill Lair today."  
"What?"  
"You heard me." Vash said. "And worse, they want me to do it." His eyes traveled towards to Blue Mist. "I'm not sure if I can."  
"I understand." Kelli said, her hand on his.  
"She was one of my best friends when we were little." Vash said, his eyes distant, as if seeing the past. "She helped me stand up to Galdius, and those were the only times I've stood up to him."  
"You must feel betrayed." Kelli said.  
"No." Vash said. "She must feel betrayed. But I know one thing, that is, if I were to plunge a sword through her on the mound where the evil must die, I couldn't do it. I'm too much of a coward."  
"You're NOT a coward." Kelli said. "Where is this mound?"  
"The place where the bad are hung." Vash said. "I saw it when we were walking through town."  
"What are you going to do?"  
"I'm not sure." He walked over to the window and put his hand on it. "I'm really just not sure."  
At that moment, Clay the Elder entered the room. "Come quick." He said. "We must get started on the work."  
"What work?" Kanari asked.  
"The ship building." Doughboy said. "Remember?" Kanari shook her head. Doughboy sighed. "Never mind."  
Clay the Elder walked us all out of the room and above the Underground. He pointed to a place that seemed to be bustling with enthusiasm and activity. We proceeded without him, walking over many bare fields where the Three Wars had been fought.  
As each person walked, memories flooded back. This was the place the dragon first set foot. This was the place Cherry fainted and literally died. This is the place that turned into a bloody river. But for Vash and Kelli, childhood memories flooded back also.  
The Fourth Annul was always held there. The Spring Concert was there. And there was a time when-but not all childhood memories were like that. No. Some were more deadly and evil and cruller than others.  
"All right." Vash commanded. "Let's get to work."  
"And, like how?" Kanari asked.  
"Yeah." Doughboy put in. "Mr. Master here, you could explain what to do first."  
"How bout you figure it out?" Vash asked gruffly. "We are to transport the wood to the ship so they can build the planks."  
"All right." Doughboy said equally gruffly. They started to walk towards the grounds.  
'Why is this so difficult all of a sudden?' Vash thought. He grunted a little. Kelli noticed this and looked sideways at him. 'Someone's always got to take the responsibility and no one likes it when it's me. As if they can do a better job.' He cast a look at Doughboy. 'As if HE can do a better job, indeed!' He sighed. 'Sometimes, people in this world can be so unfriendly and all.' He cast a look around the crowd and his eyes fell on Rene. 'Well, maybe not all people.' He looked around and saw Kelli and Nakita. 'No. But then, still, some ARE, and they are just that way and you can't change them, but everything seems to go their way, and everything seems so complicated, and things can't heal and will only get worse unless you go that way. I'm so confused. And the Lair thing?' He paused, remembering that they had left Lair back in the room, where Clay the Elder was probably taking care of her right now. 'I just don't know if I can. If I can bear this responsibility of leadership anymore, or anything, while NO one, I repeat, NO ONE appreciates me and everyone seems to be against me and everything I do and say can be criticized and I do believe that we don't have any nice pe-' But he caught himself and groaned. 'Man.'  
  
Yuki: Review if you want Vash, and if you do *hugs Vash* and if you don't, go and have this guilty feeling all day long that you didn't review Yuki's story because you knew that it was wrong not to review *evil glare*  
Oh, and if you kinda didn't get what the plot had to do with the title, it's Vash and his inner feelings, as the end half of the epi. shows, and how he feels towards this whole issue. 


	28. Sacrifice

And yet, another chapter. To whoever reads: Plz, please, review!!!  
The story's starting to go deep. ::sigh:: Can't help the past Vash, can't help the past.  
  
Sacrifice  
Grunt. Doughboy picked up a huge plank with the help of Snowy and Rene. Grunt. He walked two steps. Stop, pant, pant, pick up, and go on, grunting. I watched from the skies with somewhat humor. It was rather funny.  
"Yo, Yuki!" Kanari called from the ground. "Come help us!" I flew to a place where Nakita and Kanari were moving another plank, but by air.  
"I don't see why Rene and Snowy won't just fly and make Doughboy use his bubble." I complained. "Although, it kind of is funny to see him like this and it is kind of slow for him to go along in the bubble, but it's faster than the walking process."  
"I think that Snowy and Rene tire out more if they have to adjust their wings so they're practically hovering in one area for a long time, cause you know how slow that bubble moves." Nakita said. "It probably takes more energy."  
"Probably." I agreed as we moved the plank and started to fly.  
"What are they doing with the system?" Kanari said. "I mean, how do they plan this out?"  
"The dwarfs are helping out too." Nakita said. "The dwarfs, excellent cutters that really never wear out, cut and polish all the planks. Then the workers and some of the dwarfs help put together and paint and polish. Of course, we need to put it together before we can actually start painting, but the workers spent last night and all this morning working out how the ship should look like and now they're building. The only problem was, the dwarfs couldn't get the wood any closer to the ship."  
"Why not?" Kanari asked.  
"They started out this morning side by side, but then as the dwarfs chopped down the forest, and the ship stayed in the meadow, so they became farther and farther apart. The dwarfs created a remedy that after they sprinkle it, the stump disappears entirely and the roots rot and turn into fertilizer."  
"What does that have to do with anything?"  
"Well, it just explains why they are no stumps anywhere in the meadows." We flew past three figures that looked like ants, Doughboy, Snowy, and Rene.  
"Yeah, so?"  
"In case you were wondering." We landed on the ground and walked up to the pile of planks. The dwarfs and workers were moving planks too, but we could do it faster. However, the storage of planks was still slowly diminishing, and we had to hurry and fly back.  
After the whole day of practically working, we finally returned to the mansion.  
"What a vigorous workout." Vash said. "I could lose a couple of pounds on this."  
"Yes, you could." Doughboy replied.  
"You should talk." Vash retorted and continued to walk along. Doughboy was steaming mad, but could think of nothing else to say.  
"So?" Kelli asked when they were out of earshot. "Have you decided yet?"  
"She betrayed us all." Vash said quietly. "That is a must."  
"Yes, betrayal is." Kelli asked. "But are you strong enough to do it?"  
"Of course." Vash said certainly. But he was trembling, and Kelli sensed the quickness in his reply.  
"Very well." She said. "Let us go. It's almost noon, almost time." And hence, Vash trembled again.  
We arrived back in the Underground only to be run over by a stampede of dwarfs running to and fro.  
"What is going on?" Kanari asked.  
"Ho, the dwarfs are starting to build their own village and move to the Upper World." Clay the Elder replied cheerfully, coming out of the tunnel. "They're moving! You think all of them are helping build that ark? Ho!" He smiled and grasped around and took out his cane. "They're retrieved all of the left over from the castle and piled them by the ark. Now, during the break, let the execution begin!"  
"What?" Snowy asked.  
"Vash." Clay the Elder said.  
"I couldn't." Vash said. "Tell them, I mean. At least, not just yet." So hence Clay the Elder started his long speech about it.  
Vash and Kelli had started after the stampede already, so we followed quickly.  
"Where are you going?" I asked, trying to keep up.  
"It's going to be held outside." Vash said. We entered the town, a dusty area, which Clay the Elder said would grow and become prosperous.  
"Whatever you say." Snowy replied.  
"Are we going to feel an impact when Genesis hits Uri?" Rene asked.  
"Likely we'll all be thrown off the planet and be left traveling the Fifth Dimension." Vash said sourly.  
"Actually," Kelli said, with a nudge at Vash, "it'll probably throw us off our feet and we'll land several yards away, but otherwise, nothing much."  
"Ouch." Doughboy said. We all looked at him for a moment and then continued on. There, in the middle of what looked like the town square, was a small wooden figure, and tied to it was a girl, dressed in a old, red dress that looked like rags, with her red curly hair flying down in her face, sobbing wildly into her hair, since her hands and feet were tied to the posts.  
"They plan to put a fountain in the middle of that town square." Clay the Elder said. "But while they're still building it, they will first let her die here."  
"How awful." Rene said. "And then the town square will be always haunted. And she has such lovely red curls." Where Rene sighed and touched her own hair. Rene's hair was short and a little puffy, red by sun and silver by moonlight, it was an odd color. For some reason, she didn't like that color, though I thought it looked lovely. Of course, Lair's hair probably looked the best out of the two, but right now, it was damp and tangled and ugly, and Rene's hair looked better. Rene's hair was pretty, and even if she didn't think it was, it was pretty in the past. Whenever we went to her house, I would see a picture of a little girl with glowing red hair and a sharp cheek and peach skin and radiant little darling smile, which obviously was Rene. And the hair was in beautiful curls. Rene never said anything about that picture though, and although that picture didn't really look all that much like the Rene with us or the Rene in her photo albums, who else could that girl in the frame possibly be?  
"Curls or no curls." I said, snapping back to reality. "It's what's underneath that counts. Right Vash?" Vash was staring at the girl on the post, fixed and focused. "Vash?"  
"Hmm?" Vash asked, not looking away, but his eyebrows were raised.  
"Never mind." I answered and looked around. The dwarfs were starting to gather around the town circle. Lair looked up and saw us.  
"Vash, help me!" She cried.  
"Oh golly." Kelli said and walked over to a nearby store (which was empty) and sat down on the sidewalk. Rene and I walked over and sat next to her.  
"What's wrong?" I asked.  
"Vash already has enough qualms about killing her, now this influence may change his opinion, something he worked all day on." She turned back to catch sight of Vash standing next to Lair on the mound and beside the post and the crowds of dwarfs cheering. Doughboy looked as if he was about to throw up and I could hear Snowy saying to Kanari, "This seems like something out of my textbook. You know, history, the hangings." Nakita and Cherry were somewhere in the crowd, and after a few minutes of searching; I finally spotted them in the front row. A yellow bug flew near my eye and I waved my hand at it impatiently.  
"Hey!" A big voice said. I looked up.  
"Oh, sorry bout that Kero." I said smugly. "Sorry I forgot you too." Kero sighed and got off of Anora's back.  
"Always forgetting the pets, Yuki, always." Kero commented and sat on my shoulder, watching. "So, did we miss anything?"  
"Not much has happened yet, oh!" Vash took his sword out of the sheath. He rose if a couple of feet in the air, and I saw that he was trembling. But he suddenly straightened himself, and with all his might, aimed the sword towards the neck, which was a part of her that was not bounded to the post.  
"Zing!!!" There was a slight noise and a fistful of curls landed at Vash's feet.  
"He missed." Kelli said faintly. "I don't believe it."  
"I believe you're deaf." Kero said. I hit him on the head. "He missed because she was screaming."  
"They should have sealed her mouth." Kelli said. Vash looked up and again at Lair. Her hair was short now, and there was a red mark on her neck, where he had cut her. Vash held up the sword again and lowered it. This time, however, the sword never reached her head.  
There was a slight blue flash, like the flash of lightning on a cold, bitter night, and suddenly, Vash was lying flat on the ground. Nakita and Cherry rushed up to him.  
"What's going on?" Kelli asked, running through the crowds, the rest of us running to get up there.  
"Look at Lair!" I shouted. Her eyes were a deadly neon blue instead of that red and her small freckles were beginning to show. Then, she seemed to summon her strength and the bounds snapped. She stepped forward and great, huge, red wings sprouted from her back and opened her mouth and made a blast at the audience.  
There was an explosion and suddenly, five dwarfs were lying down on the ground, locked within an ice cube.  
"Ah, Fire Card!" I said as the others rushed past to Vash. "Melt the cube, Firey!" The Fire Card revived the dwarfs. Lair turned around and saw me.  
"You!" She said. I saw envy, hatred, and what was that? Greed?  
Meanwhile, the others had reached Vash. They shook him and woke him up, his sword lying on the ground by his side. He was so weak he could hardly stand.  
"You." Lair narrowed her eyes at me. Suddenly, her mouth opened and a blue light shot out, straight out. The Firey Card got between us, but that was enough to save my life. It paused the effect as the two forces battled for one split second, and then the Firey diminished, buy by that time, Vash had already gotten to his feet and lunged at me, sending us both skidding across the asphalt. I got up shakily and saw the Firey Card melt the cube of dwarfs that Vash saving me had caused them. By now, most of the dwarfs had started to get the message into their minds to run. I looked at my arms, and having been leaning on them the whole trip, the skin was rubbing off. Vash was lying nearby, choking wildly. I ran over and poured cordial into his mouth and then rubbed some on my arms. A shadow came over us. Kelli and Nakita ran over, followed very closely by Rene.  
Lair was flying over us. The clouds were starting to come together, filled with black ash. I shivered as the rain poured down and soaked us all.  
"What is going on?" Mr. Clay stood at the side of the shop. He saw Lair and froze.  
"We have got to get out of here and get this monster too." Kelli said. "Yuki, do something about your Firey Card." For the Firey Card was dying down as the rain poured.  
"Firey, Return to your Powers; Confined." I stuck the card in my pocket and felt increasingly dizzy. Everything had looked so good half an hour ago.  
Clay the Elder and the army of the dwarfs, along with Kanari, Kelli, Nakita, Rene, Vash, Cerberus, Cherry, Anora, Mr. Clay, Snowy, Doughboy and I were the only ones on the asphalt. Lair seemed to tower over us as she flew over us, the rain falling only after she had passed and soaking us all, her short curls seemed to extend as they got wet, and her glare was, well, chilling.  
"Oh man." Vash said. "Looks like we've got to fight."  
"Yes, it does, does it?" Lair said. She touched her curls. "Thank you for sparing my life Vash."  
"What?" Vash asked.  
"And I like the haircut." But there was something behind that eye, something I didn't trust at all. And neither did the others, I think, except Doughboy, who had already started to accept the apology and say something back, but didn't get too far, since Snowy kicked him in the shins to be quiet.  
"But." Lair said, and we knew it was coming. "I knew that you would've killed me, but you gave me something I've always lacked: time. And I remembered Grandmother's old spell."  
"Is she related to Queen Jewel?" Rene asked.  
"What spell?" Vash yelled at Lair, furious.  
"Why are you asking?" Kelli asked Rene, quietly, not interrupting Vash's conversation.  
"I was just wondering." Rene said, her red hair turning lighter as the clouds blackened even more and the rain increased. Nakita walked Clay the Elder under an awning to keep him out of the rain and spread her wings to block it from him. The old man was becoming very fragile. Cherry hopped down and joined the others. "It might have some significance."  
"The spell of the gods." Lair said.  
"Oh please, don't get into mythology now." Vash complained. Lair narrowed her eyes.  
"I had great hopes for us, Vash, little dear." She said, twirling a finger around a curl. "I thought we could defeat our utter foe and rule the world together."  
"And that's all they think about, ruling the world!" Vash shouted back, outrageous. "What utter foe?"  
"I've never seen him so mad before." Kelli said, whispering. "What significance could it possibly represent?"  
"Think little Vash dear, think." Lair said, laughing wickedly. Vash concentrated hard.  
"No." He said quietly. "I still hear that voice in my nightmares, and it's been so long ago."  
"What's he talking about?" Kanari asked. They ignored her.  
"It wasn't his fault, not really, anyways." Lair said. "He was originally a wicked guy, but weak, possessed by his mother's darkness, that turned him evil."  
"Galdius." Vash fell to his knees. "No, not Galdius, his spirit, his soul."  
"I understand!" Kelli said. "So his body was buried miles away, underneath the light and into the darkness that never rises, but his soul is still alive."  
"And he can come back and haunt us all, if only we find him." Vash said. "Oh, what have we done?"  
"I still don't get this." Kanari said.  
"OH!" Vash said.  
"I think they just realized that they didn't really kill Galdius." Rene suggested. Kelli nodded. "And Lair here wants revenge of a sort." Kelli shook her head. "No?"  
"You ruined my great chances of fame, of this world, of whatever my heart stood for." She growled. "And now, you shall pay!"  
"What about Galdius's soul?" Vash asked.  
"It won't bother you unless you accidentally drift through it, and you can only do that if you know now where you are." Clay the Elder said from behind Nakita's wings.  
"How is killing us going to help?" Kelli asked. "Galdius's soul could have gone to some other place, and you could hunt it down, but is killing us going to help any?"  
Lair pondered this for a long while, her eyes now not glowing anymore, but a pale, dark, blue, and I recognized them as Vash's eyes.  
"I just wanted to live my life the way it was, with a mission, and you destroyed it all!" She cried. "Besides." She looked at Vash. "He has to pay."  
"What do I have to pay for?" Vash asked angrily, climbing to his feet. "You-you just want to rule over the world, and now we've destroyed it for you, you think that the only reason (and let me tell you Lair, this is true too) you can is to defeat us, isn't that right?" His booming voice was instantly cut short by the clasp of thunder and the lightning.  
"That may be true." Lair said quietly. "But there's more that you don't know and won't ever find out."  
"The fact that you may be related." Rene whispered. "And the grandmother might have been…" But she trailed off and looked at Clay the Elder.  
"No way." Kelli said.  
"It's possible."  
"Then how did she get here?"  
"I don't know, all I know is it's possible, and that's all that matters."  
"I still don't understand!" Kanari whined.  
"It's simple." Snowy answered. "She wants to take over the world, a reason to destroy us first, and she wants to keep us from learning anything else. And also, Galdius isn't really dead after all, his body is but his soul is still alive, somewhere, but we needn't worry about it so soon because likely it'll never affect us, and she wanted to destroy the soul along with the body, all the reason to destroy us." Snowy said.  
"Then what was all that talk about?" Kanari asked.  
"Just mapping it out, I guess." Snowy replied.  
"You now see Vash?" Lair asked.  
"And what if I agree to you?"  
"For what?"  
"Ruling over the world."  
"Vash!" There came many voices of protests. Vash held up his hand. Lair smiled slyly.  
"Then." She said cautiously. "Everything will be forgiven and we will rule."  
"Vash." Clay the Elder said, walking over to him. Nakita flew over him, guiding him and shielding him from the rain. "Vash, whatever you do, remember that I trust you and always will."  
"There is a possibility, I know there is." Rene insisted. Kelli grunted.  
"Yuki's the psychic one, not you!" She snapped and caught herself.  
"All right." I knelt down and took out the globe. Putting my hands over it, leaving a room my for my eyes, I stared at it. I was so caught up at it that I didn't notice that everyone else was too. But they didn't see exactly what I did. I saw wings, everywhere, but they saw something entirely different, something altered everything.  
  
I'm posting the next one today also because I finished writing it (duh) 


	29. The Battle of the Gods

The Battle of the Gods  
Vash leaned towards the crystal ball even more. He could see his reflection, but what was that on his forehead. A star? Was it a star? It was an odd pattern, a diamond, stretched out like a star. Ah! The birthmark of his family. Yes, that was it; Vash remembered something like that. Clay the Elder had told Vash and Kelli about the birthmark of their family when they were little. So if Clay the Elder was his grandfather, then that birthmark was his too.  
With his eyes still unfocused and blurry from the crystal ball, he looked up, with the effects of it still working inside his eye. He saw the pattern on Mr. Clay and Clay the Elder's forehead and his sister Kelli's. Then he looked around and almost fainted.  
There, on Lair's forehead, was the same star. Vash jumped up, knocking the crystal ball over.  
"Vash!" I yelled.  
"Sorry." He looked around, his eyes focusing again, but trembling greatly.  
"What's wrong?" I asked. "What did you see?"  
"N-nothing." Vash replied. He looked at Lair, who was staring curiously at him.  
"Absolutely nothing?" I asked.  
"You're lying." Doughboy said, holding his pendant in his hand.  
"What?" Vash spun around.  
"Don't even try me." Doughboy said. "You're lying. Let's see, what did you see?" And I saw him work his Memorization charm into his own brain. The next second, he dropped the pendant and it fell and bounced around his neck.  
"Not possible." Doughboy gasped. "You, and Lair? Sister and brother?"  
"What?" Kelli asked, almost falling over. Rene's eyes opened wide.  
"I suppose it is possible."  
Lair was floating in the air, somewhat suspended, her blue eyes glittering.  
"Wow." was all she could say. "Now you really can become my brother and rule this world with me!"  
"Never!" And with that, a panic-stricken Vash aimed his Blue Mist at Lair, who shot a stream of Ice at it. "You may be my sister by blood." Vash said, gasping as it shot at him in the face (he didn't freeze like the dwarfs did, so I guessed it was his magical ability). "But never by heart." They charged at each other again.  
"One last thing." Kanari said. "Snowy, when they were talking, what was all that about 'I hear that voice in my nightmares all about'?"  
"The Darkness of the Empire." Clay the Elder muttered. "The most feared beast of them all. Did I ever tell you guys that Vash and Kelli have five siblings?"  
"You might have mentioned it." Doughboy lied.  
"He ate them." Clay the Elder said. "Literally ate. And I believe that with all her power, Lair can summon the beast again."  
"But it didn't eat her?" Doughboy asked.  
"I guess she got away and managed to tame it somehow." Clay the Elder said. "She was always very good at taming things." He whispered, "Even Vash."  
"This is just wrong." Rene said. "We can't just stand here and watch, we have to DO something!"  
"Gods of Evil, Darkness, and Power,  
Be of my greatest feared Endower.  
Show yourself and let be feared,  
For they have all but one left and smeared  
On you and your past  
So strongly and fast  
And I think  
As fast as a blink  
That it is time." Lair recited. Then, lifting her head to the sky, she shouted, "Let the Gods awaken to the Chime!" There came a distant sound of bells and the ground seemed to open up and shake under us, swallowing us up. We plunged into darkness.  
I spread out my wings, and caught someone. It was Rene. Nakita caught Clay the Elder and Kelli caught Vash. Snowy caught Doughboy and they rode on our backs up to the light. But beneath us, something was coming out. Something big and black and huge and ugly all integrated into one. With a huge thrust, a huge black ball bounded out.  
"Great." Kanari moaned, Anora and Kero on her shoulder. "All the day's hard work is to be destroyed by this monster. Oh, how I HATE that girl." And she glared at Lair.  
The monster uncurled itself and Lair flew on top of it and landed on its shoulder, patting its neck. The beast was fully black, except for the red streaks on its tail.  
"Looks like a dinosaur." Snowy commented.  
The beast has black wings, and a huge, black mouth, even on the inside, with saliva drooling out like a stream. Its huge, beadily eyes seemed the same size as volleyball, and I was unmistakably afraid. Vash kicked a rock on the ground.  
"How can I ever make you understand Lair, that ruling the world isn't just everything?" Vash asked, on the verge of crying.  
"You can't." Lair said, her eyes turning back to red. She opened her mouth and blasted out fire now instead of ice. "Now!"  
The monster came charging at us.  
"Avido!" Snowy shouted from the air and strings came and curled themselves around the beast's neck. The beast charged at the rest of us, leaving Snowy flying after it.  
"Fire Beam." Lair burnt the ribbons of strings and Snowy went flying as the beast swung his head. Doughboy jumped off and was able to get his bubble out before he hit the ground but Snowy wasn't that fortunate. She plummeted and hit the ground, skidding across the floor. Rising in a cloud of dust, she tried to rejoin the battle, but her wing was just too tired. Doughboy had rolled off of it and had bent and almost torn a muscle, so she couldn't fight, and all she could do was sit and shoot little beams of light at the monster, which didn't even faze him.  
Kanari and Nakita tried to deafen and blind it, but only Nakita was successful. The monster had a protective film over its eye. Lair, meanwhile, was after Kelli, who launched a Blow Hole and ran. Vash used his Atomic Shock, which threw Lair to the monsters feet and actually did any damage.  
"Watery Card, Freeze Card, release and dispel!" I shouted. "Whoa!" the monster ran into me as the two cards lunged at Lair and her fire mouth. I felt myself flying across the town. Suddenly, I felt myself going up again and I saw Rene and Nakita supporting me. "Thanks guys."  
"No problem." Nakita said as she lowered me to the ground. Lair had turned to ice once again and was trying to outsmart my cards.  
"Ack!" Vash said and we saw him run from the monster running after him. Then, we heard a deep, roaring voice.  
"You don't remember me, do you Vash?" The beast said. He stopped running. "Then maybe I can remind you!" And with an evil laugh, a bubble came tumbling out of his mouth.  
"Vash!" The three of us aimed for him at the same time and collided into Vash, knocking him three of four feet out of the distance of the bubble, but it was too late. Rene, Nakita, Vash and I were sucked into the bubble as we left Kanari, Snowy, Doughboy and Kelli to deal with Lair. The beast was concentrating on adding to our concentration of the memory on the bubble. The bubble was originally blue and translucent, but now I could see a setting, a background. There was a small baby in a deserted world, full of stones, and it was crying, crying!  
"That's you Vash, you." The voice said. The baby kept on crying. We watched as the baby stood up and we realized that the baby was four of five years old. Vash was covering his eyes. The monster was there too, only slightly different in proportion, and in his hands were two little kids, brothers.  
"No!" The little boy cried. "Don't!" The monster extended his hand and started towards Vash, but someone else jumped in and started to bite the hand.  
"Your sister Vash, sister."  
"Kelli?" Vash asked, looking up."  
"No, not Kelli. Think Vash, think." And from the depths, a name rose.  
"Rakana." Vash whispered. It was pronounced RaK Anna. It was one of Vash's sisters.  
"C'mon Vash, let's move." A hand was pulling the little boy away.  
"Kelli." The boy yelled as he pointed to the two hands that the beast was using, stuffing the kinds into his mouth.  
"We have to go. Lair?" Kelli looked around. "Oh dear, where is she?" The Kelli in the image looked around. The beast was reaching an outstretched hand towards them again, laughing wickedly and talking in a mocking tone. Kelli pulled the boy towards her and they ran and ran and ran until the world became blackness.  
"We thought we were swallowed." Vash said.  
"But in reality, you fell into a water pit, and hid there until your mom found you there and you escaped off of Genesis. But you left behind Lair, whom I took control of, and when she got enough ability to force me out, I pretended to be her father."  
"The duke!" Vash shouted.  
"Yes, I was the duke that visited you when everyone was little with Queen Jewel, and not even she could catch me and force me down! You wonder how Genesis became a barren and isolate place, ne? And she loved every moment with me."  
"Liar." Vash spat on the ground. The acid from his spit burnt a hole in the bubble. The next second, we were all falling and we landed on the asphalt. "That's where I recognized the voice. I knew it sounded familiar."  
"Too true, something I could never hide, my voice." The beast said. "Have I told you my name?"  
"Of all these years, never."  
"My name." The beast said. "Is Kieserite."  
"Isn't that a girl's name?" Nakita asked.  
"Yes." The beast said. "But I'm not a girl. Never question the beast's names. I was named after my sister, the one that you destroyed!"  
"We?" I asked.  
"The Liberty Angels before you, the makers of the joints of the worlds, the creator soft the dimension, the ones who sort everything out!" The beast shouted.  
"One question." Rene asked. "Then why doesn't Kelli remember any of this?"  
"Think about it." Vash said.  
"Oh." Rene answered after a moment. "Maybe she doesn't want to remember. So she knew it all along."  
"Yes, I'm afraid." Vash said. "I remember her calling for a girl, but I didn't know her name was Lair, that she was my sister."  
"And now you do." The monster charged again.  
We were thrown backwards and forwards and twisted, until I saw myself heading for the mouth.  
"NO!" I shouted. "Uh, Light Card, destroy this monster once and for all. Light, Release and Dispel." The Light Card formed, and from her look, I heard her message,  
"That I cannot do, but I can force it into the darkness once again."  
"Do it Yuki!" Clay the Elder yelled. He was standing under the awning once again. The rain pounded harder and harder and the wind howled.  
"But it won't do any-"  
"Do it!" Clay the Elder yelled. "If Lair realizes her mistake, then she can never summon it again."  
"That'll never happen." Vash said. Rene reached out and slapped him. Everyone was silent. Rene had never slapped anyone in her whole entire life. She didn't seem a bit ashamed of it either.  
"We have to look up to our spirits and say, we CAN defeat this beast, we MUST!" She yelled. "Power Hoops!" It actually sliced through his fiber. "Everything CAN be done, if only you TRY!" She shot out her Golden Rings. "It MUST have a WEAKNESS!"  
"That's it!" Vash said, snapping his finger. "Doughboy. Where are you?"  
"Here." Doughboy drifted to the ground with his bubble. Unable to fight, he had stayed out of the way.  
"Use your memorization and let me control it." With the two boys teamed up, this finally seemed to prove a truce for the two-at least, temporarily. We had no clue until later what Vash was signaling over, all I know is, the Light Card aimed for it and so did everyone else with their attacks at the exact same time, and suddenly, the monster collapsed and was gone.  
"I will be back." I heard it faintly. "I will not die."  
Lair in her panic recited the poem again, but nothing happened. "Soul!" she cried, and then collapsed. "You destroyed the soul this time too." Then her eyes suddenly brightened. "I'm sensing something. Oh no!" the sky was clearing, and it revealed a Lair with bright blue eyes, very wide. There came a flash of red that looked like red lightning, and then, she was suddenly sprawled on the ground, motionless.  
  
Just a few more chapters and Jewel Quest will be done with...a few more chapters...then the first premier of Black Magic....ohh ::rubs hands greedily:: I can't wait, I've postponed all my fics for this moment! 


	30. Adjust!

Sorry...I've kinda taken to writing longer chapters than the usual rounded six pages. I just somehow end up with five pages, then I zoom off and can't stop myself. But then, it would be SO wrong to stop in the middle of Vash's inaguration speech and it needs some feeling after...  
CCS does not belong to me.  
  
Adjust!  
I collapsed on the marble floor of the town square and just sat there. Two dwarfs wandered by, carrying a water fountain that was supposed to lie in the middle of the town square. We watched them. Obviously, they were just normal dwarfs, not even attending the execution ceremony, and they thought it was over, as they ignored us, otherwise with a curt bow and was done with the installation within minutes and walked away.  
"So." Kelli walked over and looked at Lair. "I think she's dead."  
"She is?" Vash asked wearily.  
I watched as the rest of my cards returned to their card form. Silently, I summoned the watery card and it filled the fountain.  
"Yes, I'd assume." Kelli said. "My only sister."  
"Hush Kelli, she's caused enough damage already." Vash said, rubbing his eyes and talking a seat on the corner of the floor by Nakita and Clay the Elder. "I'm exhausted."  
"Vash." Kelli said, exasperated. "How can you not even care?"  
"You try it when you're this tired." Vash grumbled.  
"Are you saying that you did more work than I did?"  
"No."  
"Well then!" Kelli walked over to Lair, and then paced the marble floor. Everyone else, by that time, was already resting on the floor, all fatigued.  
"Oh gosh." Nakita said. She walked over to the fountain and washed the sleeping Cherry while Snowy's wings evaporated.  
"I don't know what to do about them." Clay the Elder said. "You will likely need them repaired, and the dwarfs know best. But right now, I can't do anything about it." Snowy sighed and dipped her head into the fountain, which seemed like a good idea. I ambled over and did like.  
"So exhausted." Kanari moaned as she drenched her head and then sat on the edge of the stone fountain. "I might as well go swimming." She examined herself carefully.  
"Soon enough." I said. "The boat shall be built and everything shall be finished and we shall be able to go home."  
"Yuki?" Doughboy asked.  
"What?" I grumbled.  
"Do me a favor. Stop saying shall."  
"And then, when we get home, maybe I shall stop saying shall." I said tiredly, lying down on the marble. "Ooh!" I groaned. More dwarfs were coming back now, and returning to their normal tasks.  
"How about us returning to our rightful places?" Clay the Elder asked.  
"Home?" Nakita asked eagerly.  
"No, back to the mansion." He said. "A change of clothes seems good." By now, everyone's clothes, which had seemed casual and rightful when we left the Third Dimension, was now all tarnished and tattered and full of holes.  
"What a battle." Snowy said, trying to make conversation as we walked back to the mansion for the, well, I've lost count by now. Everyone else just grumbled, and grumbled still when we entered the mansion all exhausted.  
"A good rest and clothes and food will truly do!" Clay the Elder said, somewhat cheerfully. "Come on people, keep up your spirit."  
"I don't think I have much left." I said, gulping down a glass of water.  
"Yuki." Rene said, contradicting. "Come on, you have to have SOME spirit. It keeps you alive."  
"Maybe I'll have more when I'm less tired." I said, groaning and dragging myself upstairs. Rene sighed.  
"Hopefully, it's just a phase." She said. "A phase we're all going through."  
"I wouldn't count on it." Doughboy said.  
"And what would you know?" Vash asked.  
"A lot more than you!" Doughboy said.  
"Well, let the arguing cease and then we can all enjoy a nap, but remember to wake up before the night." Clay the Elder said.  
"What for?" Vash asked.  
"It is night." Doughboy grumbled.  
"You'll see." Clay the Elder said mysteriously, winking. "It's a very special night."  
"It will be, when Vash learns some responsibility." Doughboy added.  
"Responsibility? What are you talking about? Look at you!" Vash cried.  
"Guh." Kelli said, as the rest of the girls (minus a very lazy and tired Yuki) watched with sweatdrops on the back of their heads. "This could go on for a while."  
"What is happening tonight?" Rene asked.  
"It's somewhat of a surprise." Clay the Elder said.  
"Somewhat?"  
"Well, you'll see." Clay the Elder said. "Of course, Vash has the upper hand on it all."  
"I do?" Vash asked.  
"No fair, why does HE get it all?" Doughboy complained.  
"Yes, you'll have to know the surprise before all of them, since you are the one who must make the decision." Clay the Elder said, and suddenly Vash was very alert.  
"A choice?" Vash asked, softly, hardly above a whisper. He exchanged worried looks with Kelli.  
"Don't you worry." Clay the Elder said. "And I do really want you all to know that Lair wasn't really as evil or ghastly as you all think. After all, 'behind every villain, there is a soul; behind every hero, there is a choice; and behind every battle, there's a destiny.'"  
"That's...true." Vash said, slowly. "Lair was a villain, but she did have a soul, did have a heart, just we weren't able to reach out and touch it to affect it. And if we're classified as heroes ("Of course we are!"-Doughboy-"Oh, but I forgot, all of us except Vash. "::mockingly:: Doughboy was poked in the ribs, very hard, by Rene. "Shut up Doughboy! Hasn't he done enough already for us?" "Well, he caused all of this!"-Doughboy. Rene steps on Doughboy's foot and the discussion ends.) and we had to make a choice. I guess that's something all heroes are entitled too, and I guess they don't like it either, and every battle does have a destiny, a purpose, just as there is a purpose for everything." He looked off.  
"Hear, hear." Nakita and Rene clinked glasses full of water. "That was a good speech Vash." Nakita said.  
"Yeah." Rene said, with an added, unnecessary look at Doughboy, who grunted what seemed like his approval.  
"Yes." Kelli said. "And it is, well, so true." She started up the stairs and paused when she reached the first step. "And pray they make the right choices."  
"I like the part about the 'Behind every battle, there is a destiny.'" Vash said. "Because, I don't know, every time I hear it, I get a tingle go up my back and-hey!"  
"What's wrong?" Kelli asked. The whole group had started up the stairs, and while the girls were halfway into the girl's room, Vash stopped and stared at the place where a set of stairs had once been.  
"Um, Clay the Elder? My gosh." Vash said, looking ahead of him.  
"By golly." Rene said. "How is Doughboy going to get up that?"  
And in front of them, where the stairs to the boy's room had been, was a big hole, supported by a big ladder.  
"I'm afraid," Clay the Elder said, approaching from behind, "that while the battle raged from above, the lights from the ceiling fell and the stairs caught on fire, and was badly damaged. I'm afraid that we will have to use this for now."  
"Uh, sure." Vash said, grabbing the third rung and pulling himself up. "No problem sir!" Clay the Elder turned to leave, and Doughboy, watching Vash climb up the ladder, blinked and frowned.  
"What a long ladder." Rene said. "Must be at least (she counted) wow, twenty rungs long." She slid to a spot beside Doughboy, and Snowy went to his other side.  
"Do you think you can make it up?" Snowy taunted him from the other side.  
"What if you fall?" Rene asked, giggling. Doughboy scratched his head, and then removed a greased hand behind his back to wipe of in the back of his shirt.  
"I won't fall." He said confidently. I appeared in the hallway to watch this. Snowy and Rene watched as Doughboy walked towards the ladder. Clay the Elder had already disappeared down below, and Kelli and Kanari stuck their heads out in the doorway. Nakita was watching from one of the rungs. She had climbed up for practically no reason at all and was now watching Doughboy wipe his obese hands clean of oil and start to attempt the ladder.  
"I think that you should get out of the way." Vash said, from the top, where he was confidently sitting on the second to last rung to the top. "Nakita, you might get hurt. Or at least get up here, he could knock you onto the ground."  
"I have wings." Nakita protested. "This is a great view!"  
"Your wings won't have room to expand." Vash said, lowering himself and dragging Nakita up to the top. "Here, stay and watch." Doughboy touched the first rung, and then grabbed the third one and put his foot on the first, slowly transferring the weight from foot to foot. Slowly, the ladder started to tilt and tip over.  
"Ah!" Nakita said, as she started to fall. Vash, sitting at a more stable area, grabbed her and the top rung.  
"Hey!" Vash said, pulling the rung towards him and the top landing.  
"Yeah, hey!" Cherry said, trying to help, but being unsuccessful.  
"Doughboy, you big lump of fat, get off the ladder before Nakita and I fall!" Vash said.  
"I don't care about you and, okay, I'll get off." He briskly got off, and Vash straightened out the ladder.  
"Here, tilt it, and he'll have an easier time climbing." Vash said, tilting the ladder. Doughboy started to climb again. He got to the fourth rung, then his hand and foot missed a rung and he rolled down the ladder. Snowy sighed in exasperation.  
"This could take a while." I observed.  
"I think this is the beginning of a rival ship between Vash and Doughboy." Kanari said.  
"How do you see a rival ship?" Kelli said.  
"Just listen to them rat each other off!" Kanari said. "Yikes."  
"Of all things and people." I said, watching Doughboy do another attempt and tumble down again. Nakita giggled at the top.  
"These rungs are slippery!" Doughboy grumbled. "And small!"  
"Well, I had no problem." Vash said.  
"Maybe you spread oil over them." Doughboy said.  
"Well, neither did I." Nakita said. "It isn't nice to blame other people when you can't climb up a ladder, Doughboy."  
"Due to his obesity." Vash said.  
"Vash!" Nakita disparaged.  
"Sorry." Vash apologized.  
We watched Doughboy miss a rung and slip, then another attempt.  
"Perhaps he should just use his Pink Bubble." I suggested. "And if it won't fit through the hole into the room, he can grab onto the rung there and pull himself up."  
"Release!" Doughboy called, pointing his pendant up. He was suddenly enclosed by the pink bubble and moving up.  
"It looks like bubble gum." Nakita said, climbing gently down the steps. Vash got out of the way, sticking his head slightly out of the hole to watch. Doughboy reached the top and grabbed the rung, got rid of his bubble, and clumsily got in the hole. He poked his head out.  
"You can all stop watching!" He called.  
"I wonder if this will happen every day." Rene said, giggling, walking back into the room.  
"I think we have to get used to this new lifestyle, with Vash and Doughboy constantly arguing." Nakita said.  
"Oh, cool!" I said.  
"Cool?" Rene and Nakita asked. Kelli raised her eyebrows.  
"This will make it a lot more interesting." I said.  
"Oh yeah." Kero said.  
***  
Grumble grunt, pant huff. I blinked my eyes open and moaned. Sitting up on the bed, I looked around me. Doughboy was passing the door, all red and sweaty from his long trip down the ladder. Shaking my head, I went and approached the kitchen.  
Practically everyone was there, in their nightclothes, as our normal clothes had mysteriously disappeared during the night. Kero and Suppi were already crowded around my plate, Kero greedily feeding on deserts. Nakita was feeding a famished Cherry first, and Anora was eating something big and round from what looked like a dog's bowl.  
"What time is it?" I asked, looking at my frozen watch by instinct. Not even twenty minutes had passed since we left Earth and the Third Dimension. Not even five minutes had passed wince we first got to Uri. And yet, so much had happened. I assumed time traveled faster in the Fourth Dimension than normal. "It feels like morning, yet, it's so dark out, and it feels like night."  
"That didn't make any sense." Doughboy said, stuffing food into his mouth, and forgetting his napkin.  
"I mean, it should be morning, but it feels like night." I repeated. "And, well, I'm a little tired."  
"Tell me about it." Kanari said, walking down from the stairs, the last one to, well, I had no clue to what meal this was.  
"Eat now, question later, that's Doughboy's motto." Snowy said. "Vash, what time is it?"  
"It's the evening." Vash said. "Not even five, and the sun's still out above."  
"How can you tell?" Rene asked.  
"I can't." Vash said. "Clay the Elder has a chart of sunsets, though."  
"Yes, our last day in Uri, why don't we watch the sunset." I suggested.  
"Is that sarcastic?" Doughboy asked, mouth full.  
"Does that sound the LEAST sarcastic to you?" I retorted.  
"I don't know, I really don't know." Doughboy said.  
"He's too busy eating to think." Snowy explained. Doughboy grunted, as his mouth was full and he was afraid something would drop out if he opened it.  
"So, where IS Clay the Elder?" Kelli asked. She had been rather quiet to Vash ever since the incident about Lair. "And what is going to happen tonight? Are they going to bury Lair?"  
"They will tonight, I suppose, but that's not the important thing." Vash said. "Clay the Elder already told me. He's making the preparations right now."  
"Oh, and Lair isn't important." Kelli said gruffly.  
"I didn't mean that by it, Kelli, and you know it too." Vash said, amid her gaze. "And well, if you didn't, that's not what I meant, really."  
"Why won't you accept the fact?" Kelli asked.  
"What fact is there to accept?" Vash asked, not meeting her gaze, and stuffing what looked like a pancake into his mouth. I sat down, tucked in my napkin, and started to eat.  
"The fact that she's your sister." Kelli said quietly, looking at Vash straight in the eye. Vash avoided it. There was a moment of silence.  
"Please pass the eggs." Rene said. Kelli reached and handed the boiled egg basket to Rene, who took one out and passed it on. "Merci." She said. Kelli gave her a slight smile.  
The room was quiet once again, only filled with the sound of Doughboy munching wildly on his food, oblivious of what had just happened and the tension in the room.  
Clay the Elder came in not long after and led us out of the room, where he gave us our old clothes, only all repaired and the holes and worn out places could hardly be seen.  
"Let's go." He said quietly.  
We walked down the silent streets, listening to Doughboy and Vash bickering after one another, and the only one who cared and had enough energy to stop them was Nakita, which I wasn't entirely grateful of, since it just made the squabble louder and the whining more intense.  
"This is a new adjustment we'll have to live with, all right." Rene grumbled gruffly.  
Finally, we arrived back on the surface of Uri.  
"When can we get home?" Kanari said, breathing in the fresh Uri air as she got out of the hole. "I mean, the mansion and the rest of the Underground, plus all the shops were splendid the first time we came, and still is, only I'm getting a little sick of it. How many days have we been here anyways?"  
"There's nothing like home." Kelli said, looking around her. Kanari was suddenly silent.  
"I guess no one's cared to keep count." Snowy answered. "Around a week, perhaps?"  
"All these battles have muddled my brain up." I complained.  
"As if they weren't muddled up already." Doughboy said. Vash gave him a don't-mess-with-me-or-my-friends look.  
"I understand how you feel, children." Clay the Elder said. "Hang in there. Just tonight, working tomorrow on the ship, which shall be completed by night morrow, just in time to ship the supplies on board, and get ready for the great blast."  
"What blast?" Kanari asked, suddenly alert.  
"The blast of which Genesis and Uri shall join and prevail as one." Clay the Elder said. "But first (his eye met Vash's gaze and he smiled and winked) we have some business to do." He trudged towards the town the dwarfs had built.  
When we got there, it was quite a surprise. The town was fully in order, everything running, and everything seemed so cleansed with not a sign of the afternoon's battle.  
"I have a question." Nakita said. "Why do they bother with all this when Genesis is going to crash into Uri and knock everything over?"  
"Magic spells my dear." Clay the Elder smiled. "It will not and it will stay as is. No natural feature will have ever altered the course of something that could and shall be done earlier."  
"Oh...okay." Nakita said.  
We marched up to the town square, and there was a huge ribbon tying from the post by the general store to a mailbox by the post office. The lanterns and street lights hung all over town.  
"It's so pretty." Rene said. The ribbon, or ribbons, I should say, was white, light pink, and baby blue, with a huge flower in the middle made by the three. Clay the Elder, who had disappeared while we had been awing over this miracle, reappeared and thrust a pair of huge, orange scissors into Vash's hand, which groped around them tentatively.  
"You may do the honors, Vash." Clay the Elder said quietly. A crowd was already gathered, around the place, and as Vash looked ahead and focused on the ribbon, I looked around. People from above opened their windows (you see, in the dwarf town, the shops were underneath and they had their houses on top, how convenient) and stuck their heads out. The crowd gathered and seemed to push Vash and us towards the ribbons, but stayed at least five feet away from us. And on the other side of the ribbon, was the grand water fountain.  
"I have come here to say, on the behalf of my colleagues ("He sounds like a professor at a University." Doughboy whispered to Nakita. Nakita slapped him on the arm. "No he doesn't, be quiet, he's doing a very good job!" Nakita said. Then, arm crossed, she continued listening. Doughboy, feeling very dissed, sulked.) that we are very proud of our land, Uri, and all that it has given us, devoid of all it has taken from us. My proud partners, and me, my friends (which he took time to use an arm to point out every member of the group except Doughboy) want to say that we are very proud of you today as we will always be. There is nothing I can really say to express my grief and sorrow for those many who have died on battle, in mortal combat, nor the joy I have received from being able to achieve my destiny, to bring prolonged peace to this world, and the many worlds that follow. It is my joy that the monsters and evils have gotten the comeuppance the rightfully deserve, and I cannot, in any way, express my feelings, but with two words and one emotion: Thank you. Because without you, none of this would be possible. We are not the true cause of this peace, because everyone played an important part for it, and everyone worked as a team, and everyone paid the consequences of the evilness. And hence, you still believe that without us, there would be no peace. That may be true. But what I really want to emphasize is, I turned my life around. I was a subject of Queen Jewel, and she was my aunt. But if you believe in what you really want to believe in, and if you strive to achieve it, you will get it, not matter how dire the consequences along the way. Everyone can do something to change the bad and evil. You have asked me, today, on behalf of my people (giving a swift bow to Clay the Elder, Mr. Clay, who had arrived, their maids, and the rest of the group) and on the behalf of all the rest of you (Vash removed a short, well-polished, black hat from his head and waved it at the crowd and the dwarfs in the windows) to be able to call this city mine, to dedicate this city to me, and with my permission, be able to run it. I will now, (steps forwards to the ribbon and opens the blades the scissors) name this city, with the grant of the law of the gods, Ogsville." He cut the ribbon, and it fell to the ground. Lowering the scissors to his side, his eyes lost that gleam, he sighed with disbelief and gave the crowd a grand smile. "I repeat on more time, thank you for all you have given to me, my friends, and this world." He bowed one more time and turned and walked to us.  
Nakita, Rene, and I were all bawling on each other's shoulders. Kelli was sniffing wildly, sitting down with a piece of paper in her lap, scribbling down Vash's last words. Kanari was sneezing, and tears were trying not to overflow. Snowy was sniffling and wiping her eyes. Clay the Elder was clapping, as all the men in the crowd and children were doing (the ladies being too busy wiping their tears). Vash stopped several feet in front of us and looked at us, then around at the crying crowd and the rounds of applause.  
"That was the best speech I've ever heard, my boy!" Clay the Elder said, laughing happily and slapping Vash on the back. He walked off, muttering praise. Vash stood there, letting this sink in, and caught Doughboy's gaze.  
A Doughboy with his arms crossed gruffly, his eyes narrowed in a bad manner, and his bottom lip curled, with in evil look on his face. Doughboy's hair was usually flat, and with another look, Doughboy walked himself behind Nakita, Rene, and me. Ready to show he could do a better job of comforting girls than Vash was, he bent down and was starting to pat Nakita on the head when she suddenly moved.  
"Oh Vash!" Nakita said, rushing up to Vash. "That was SO beautiful." She started sniffing and crying again. Vash, his eyes still focused on Doughboy, fished out a handkerchief from his pockets with his right hand and handed it to Nakita, who thanked him and started to cry on his shoulder.  
Doughboy, after Nakita had moved, fell somewhat flat on his face.  
"Oh!" Rene said, leaning away from Doughboy (she was sitting on the ground beside Yuki, with Yuki on her right and Nakita used to be on her left) with her fists clenched in tight balls by her neck as she fought for balance.  
"Great job Vash." Doughboy said, lying on the floor, lifting his head up. "I may have managed to make Rene cry once in her life, but never have I made the whole city cry, and especially all these girls."  
"Hey." Vash said, approaching with Nakita still on his shoulder (which, by the way, really pissed Doughboy off). "Take it easy, I guess my speech really was something."  
Grr...was Doughboy's reply. "You just wait, Vash, you just wait."  
  
I've decided to include a teaser with every episode/chapter for the next one.  
The next chapter is called, "And Yet..." and here is an excerpt from it:  
"I noticed you didn't mention the battles and all the horrors we went through in that address of yours." Doughboy said. Vash slowly turned around as the last of the dwarfs returned to their homes.  
"I see no need to." Vash said. "They all have their pain stakes, some have lost family members or loved ones, and they have all played an important part. Why bring back those horrible memories? Why tell them ours, to make them feel worse?" Vash's words had a strong emotion behind them, as if concealing something. "No." He said softly. "We all worked together in this, and there is absolutely no need to be reminded. Memories, even the bad ones, need to be cherished one day, need to be remembered. It's not good to forget how someone you loved died. But not now, not in a few days, but someday, when perhaps the scars heal."  
"And you will remember." Kelli finished. "Remember those fun times you had, forget how they parted, because that doesn't matter anymore, and what does matter is your memories of that person, and what fun and joy you had; that's what really counts." Vash turned his head and met Kelli's gaze.  
"I will remember." 


	31. And yet...

CCS does not belong to me.  
  
And yet...  
"So, I guess we have to head home now." Vash said, watching the crowd disappear.  
"I guess so." Nakita said, sitting down with the rest of the group in a semi-circle. For the last half hour, Vash had been taking autographs due to his address, and two dwarfs had come to the fountain, and placed on the mound where the statue had been standing, a brass sign that said, "Ogsville."  
"Who would come up with a name such as Ogsville?" Doughboy asked as Vash signed the autograph of a little boy dwarf.  
"I think it's cute." I protested.  
"So do I." Rene said. "Ogsville, a name out of no where-"  
"You've got that correct, all right." Doughboy said. "And if it's out of nowhere, it's also out of nowhere of importance."  
"But Vash's brain." Rene finished. "And I happen to think there's a lot of stuff in that brain of his."  
"Unlike yours, which is microscopic." Kanari said. All the girls started giggling. Doughboy grunted and said something nasty about Vash.  
"How can you, or ANYONE, in that case, be so insensitive?" Nakita wondered. "Just look at Vash, signing autographs, listening and taking in all the insults! Have you no shame, Doughboy?" Doughboy turned red. No one knew that by this time, Vash, turned around where they could not see him, had a huge smile on his face. It was one thing to be said about when Doughboy was the one saying it, and those bitter insults continued, which made Vash want to turn around and bash him with a lead pipe, but it was another when all the girls were defending him.  
"I noticed you didn't mention the battles and all the horrors we went through in that address of yours." Doughboy said. Vash slowly turned around as the last of the dwarfs returned to their homes.  
"I see no need to." Vash said. "They all have their pain stakes, some have lost family members or loved ones, and they have all played an important part. Why bring back those horrible memories? Why tell them ours, to make them feel worse?" Vash's words had a strong emotion behind them, as if concealing something. "No." He said softly. "We all worked together in this, and there is absolutely no need to be reminded. Memories, even the bad ones, need to be cherished one day, need to be remembered. It's not good to forget how someone you loved died. But not now, not in a few days, but someday, when perhaps the scars heal."  
"And you will remember." Kelli finished. "Remember those fun times you had, forget how they parted, because that doesn't matter anymore, and what does matter is your memories of that person, and what fun and joy you had; that's what really counts." Vash turned his head and met Kelli's gaze.  
"I will remember."  
There was a moment of grand silence, as the sun set over the horizon, and I felt nothing could be better.  
"It doesn't get much better than this." I said. "You're with your friends, your heart has just been touched, and the whole world is in everlasting peace."  
"Anybody ready to go back to bed?" Clay the Elder said.  
"I don't think I can stand another night down there." Kanari said. "Gag me with a fur ball as you might, I can't stand the pressure in that place anymore."  
"What pressure?" Kelli and Vash both asked.  
"Air pressure." Kanari said. "It's so low down there, with artificial lighting and everything! Reminds me of a cave, and I never liked cages."  
"Then think of how all those dwarfs must feel, to be down there for years." Mr. Clay said. Kanari was quiet, once again.  
"Is it possible that we could camp out here the last night we're staying?" Snowy asked.  
"This is our last night?" Doughboy cried. "Yes!" Vash and Kelli exchanged looks, and Nakita sighed and shook her head at Doughboy (which made his sigh and feel grumpy, thinking, "Why can't I ever please her?).  
"Please do." Kelli said. "Our last night here, we shall leave tomorrow night."  
"Yes, after the boat is complete, we shall say goodbye to everyone and everything on this planet, and then we shall leave to go to the Third Dimension." Vash said. Catching Clay the Elder's gaze, he added, "Of course we'll wait for Genesis to come, and also come to visit."  
"Lair will be buried tomorrow." Clay the Elder said. "We will meet at the town cemetery at seven, two hours before Genesis is scheduled to land. The boat shall be completed before them."  
"Yes sir." Snowy agreed. "And I can create a tent and I have Liz's rapier." Snowy held up the rapier in one hand and the wand in another.  
"I have something to give." Clay the Elder said. He reached out and placed a sword in front of us.  
"Another sword?" I asked.  
"An epee." Clay the Elder said, talking it out of the sheath. "A three bladed sword."  
"Who is it for?" Vash asked. "Kelli, Yuki, and I already have our swords."  
"Whoever you want." Clay the Elder took Mr. Clay's arm and they floated off like ghosts into the sky. We watched them off.  
"Nakita, do you want it?" Vash asked.  
"I'm pretty comfortable, as I have Cherry and my bells." Nakita replied gently.  
"Rene?"  
"Well, I have my power hoops and broomstick already, you know." Rene replied.  
"Yeah, Snowy?"  
"Sorry Vash, I already have too many spells to remember with this wand than time to practice fencing."  
"Er, Kanari?"  
"Nah, Vash, I don't like the fighting thing in the first place, and though I'm willing to do it, I don't think I'm willing to stab somebody with a sword, something Liz wasn't exactly willing to do in the first place. And besides, I like my weapon, and even though Nakita and I can make someone deaf and blind, you can't really see those effects."  
"Then who? Oh, wait, Doughboy?" Vash asked, eyebrows raised in doubt.  
"I'll take it." Doughboy said, reaching forward.  
"Doughboy, number one, you can't even hold it, it's too heavy, and number two, you can't possibly fence, it's for someone with a more slender body, someone who can bounce around more." I protested.  
"He does need more of a weapon, though." Vash said. "He can literally do nothing in this group, heavens knows why he's still with us, all he can do is be a nuisance and float around."  
"He makes, er, as a target and distraction for an enemy." Rene suggested. "I mean, they can aim for him cause he's so feeble and we can attack from behind."  
"Oh yes, bait." Vash said. "Afraid I forgot about it."  
"I don't want the sword anymore." Doughboy said curtly.  
"All right." Vash held it out. "Somebody, please."  
"Snowy?" Rene asked. "Do you want me to carry Snowy's rapier so you can work your magic better?"  
"Well, I'm pretty much getting used to being really heavy on one side, but yes, I'd be more than glad to have you take it." Snowy said, giving it to Rene.  
"And I'll be free to carry the epee, make it a less of a burden for Vash." Nakita said.  
"Too bad those can't shrink like mine does." I said, pulling out my necklace, looking at it, and then pulling out the Sword Card. We giggled and started for the meadows, which Snowy noted would be a good place to spend the night, remembering all the battles that had happened on those grounds.  
"It's settled then." Vash said. "Let's go."  
***  
The ship building process was something I hated, that continued for most of the day, and finally finished when the day ended at six. The boards were all done and painted and polished, and the last of the workers were all rearranging the furniture in their room. The rubble left over from the castle had been searched for anything valuable and burned, leaving nothing but a pile of ashes.  
"All memories gone, no hard feelings anyone." Doughboy announced, walking circles around us. Nakita stopped him.  
"The memories aren't gone, and will never be gone, just the structure, and the past will truly be gone." She said.  
"Too true, the past goes too." Vash said, walking from the rubble into the town. "Come on. They expanded it more today, and the cemetery has been decorated with flowers."  
"I think I cemetery should be a nice place, a place to remember and to be remembered." I said. "Why does everyone hate cemeteries so and think that they have ghosts?"  
"Cause most of them didn't die naturally." Kelli said. "Come." We entered the cemetery, still half an hour early, watching as they set out the places. We went up to the open casket and looked in. Lair, her flaming red hair and her blue eyes, still wide awake. She looked so real; as if you reached out a hand and touched her she would spring back alive again. I frowned. She seemed so real.  
Vash gripped the side of the casket.  
"I will remember you, whatever happens." He said. He blew a kiss into the casket, and Kelli joined him. The rest of us, one by one (with Doughboy in the lead) slowly retreated to our seats, saving two for Kelli and Vash.  
When they finally returned, the ceremony began.  
I don't know what struck me as so amazing, whether the fact that I had seen a dead corpse (yeah, I know, all corpses are dead) or the fact that I had seen a funeral, both for the first time, but it was just so sad, with the dwarf up there talking. Trying not to cry, the funeral service went by too quickly, and when the casket was lowered into the ground, and two dwarfs started to bury it, I stood up.  
"Lair wasn't the evil person you all thought her to be." I started, shakily, trembling. Vash looked up in surprise, and the dwarfs stopped burying. "She may have been possessed in evil, but she was really a good person to start with, and a good person may she end with. She made a great deal many mistakes, and had to pay for them, but whatever you may say about her, whatever you say bad about her, how she was responsible of all this evil, remember one thing. We are all born equal, we are all born innocent, and whatever happens, you have the choice in what you chose to do in life, and you make the decisions and things happen." I literally stopped and broke down there. And then I caught my voice. There was still something to say, something to get my point across, and I knew all the rest of them were silently urging me to say it. My voice came from far away, as if a distant spirit was lifting it, and I found the words forming at the top of my tongue.  
"Behind every villain, there is a soul; behind every hero, there is a choice; and behind every battle, there is a destiny."  
"And there always will be." Vash said, standing up. He waked over to the dwarfs. "Let me bury her." The dwarfs put down their shovels, and Vash stood there, by himself, and, putting his whole heart into it, buried Lair.  
"I think it's a sign of forgiveness, acceptance." Kelli said as Vash finished and laid the shovel down, and the crowd, overcome with emotion, started to depart. "Thank you Yuki."  
"I don't know what happened, or what came over me." I said, scratching the back of my head. Vash smiled.  
"That's all right, because you did the right thing, and I think that everyone will, somehow, not hate Lair anymore." He stopped and we watched the two dwarfs come and place the stone on top of the place she was buried. After they left, people started to put flowers on it.  
"We don't need flowers." Kelli said. "We never will, because we have our love, love for her." With an arm around Vash, they disappeared into the town.  
"Aw, how sweet, sister and brother." Rene said, joining me.  
"I wonder how it is to have siblings." I said.  
"Believe me, you don't want to know." Snowy said, approaching. We all exchanged smiles.  
"Let's go." Nakita said. Cherry was even crying openly now.  
***  
"You always forget us, Yuki." Kero whined. Suppi was laughing on the ground.  
"Oh, sorry." I said.  
"Kelli left Anora in the mansion too." Suppi said. "But Nakita remembered Cherry." I sighed.  
"Well, I have to thank Clay the Elder for bringing you two out here and for all he's done for us." I said. "Come." I took one in each hand and started towards the others.  
There were all watching the town, which seemed to be swallowed up in a purple bubble, still on the ground, like a massive dome that was protection it. The boat was already in the air, and the last workers were boarding it and raveling the ladder up.  
"What's going to happen?" I asked.  
"Well, it's more than likely that we'll be thrown off the planet and then, we will get up and say goodbye and go home." Vash said dryly.  
"Vash and I have already said our goodbyes to everything and everyone, with the exception of Clay the Elder and Mr. Clay and the head of the army of dwarfs." Kelli said. "Look up there." She pointed among the stars, and I saw a great, massive, orange ball coming towards Uri.  
"It really isn't orange, is it?" Rene asked. "I mean, it looks like it's full of gas, or like Venus and Saturn's surfaces!"  
"I believe those are just clouds, and that there's really something good underneath." Kelli said. "Speaking of clouds." She looked around. "Clay the Elder has one last task for us."  
"Uh-oh." Kanari said.  
"Well, Genesis has a ton of clouds, and Uri didn't have any to start with, but when Queen Jewel came, she produced all this." Kelli said. "So if we could just fly over the clouds, and scatter this (she held up a bag) over it, they will break down and disappear and become minerals."  
"You're joking, right?" Doughboy said. "Never before has anything been able to break down clouds and turn them into minerals."  
"We're talking Uri here." Vash said.  
"And then Uri will be clear of clouds, and the ones from Genesis will move over, so the whole planet, or should I say, planets, will be equal." Kelli said, clasping her hands together. "What do you think?"  
"I have a question." I said. "How are we going to get above the clouds, build a spaceship?"  
"Oh, just like in the shows and cartoons!" Doughboy said. We all stared at him. "What?"  
"The procedure is very hard." Vash said, suddenly in serious mode. "Just four of us will go. When Genesis lands, we will be thrown several feet into the air, which gives the four of us a boost, and we can reach the clouds when Genesis throws us into the air. We have to have wings, however, so I can't go." He looked somewhat disappointed. "The rest of us will be in the meadow, and thrown up and will hopefully land on the tall grass and flowers." He looked around. "Who volunteers to go?"  
"I will." I said. Kero and Suppi, followed by Anora, flew over to Vash. Kelli nodded.  
"So will I."  
"Why can't I just use my bubble and fly up there?" Doughboy said. "I've never really tested how far up I can go."  
"Because your bubble is too slow and the air pressure will get to you and you might fall and crush us." Vash replied. "All right, Snowy. Rene, your wings are too little to go. One more person, please." Nakita and Kanari looked at each other.  
"Take care of Cherry for me, Kanari." Nakita said, handing over Cherry.  
"All right, we're ready." Kelli said. "Keep your fist closed." She poured some white powder into our hands. "That is, until we get up there." She said with a wink. "Make sure you don't open up your fists when the blast comes." We nodded.  
"Coming in two minutes." Vash said. We waited in somewhat, silence. Clay the Elder was keeping the people and dwarfs safe with his powers. "Ten, nine, eight-"  
"Feel like I'm going on a space voyage." Snowy said, looking at the pile of weapons (the rapier and epee especially) we had left with the others for safekeeping.  
"Make sure that the swords don't fly out of the sheath." Kelli said. I closed my eyes, and remembered that I needed to see. Waiting for the blast, I held my breath.  
"Four, three, two, one." There was an earthly groan, followed by a crunch, and I felt myself being tossed in the air.  
"Now!" Kelli screamed, and our wings all came out. Flapping wildly, trying to fight against gravity and the groaning earth, we rose higher and higher. The air was getting to me, and I felt as if we would never reach the clouds. But we got somewhat three feet on top of them and scattered the powder.  
"Don't worry, it'll spread." Kelli said.  
"Oh!" Nakita said, and that moment she seemed to have fainted, her body suspended, and lying on her back, she began to spin.  
"Quick, there isn't much time!" Kelli said. I didn't understand how she could speak at a time like this. But grabbing Nakita, along with the other three, I realized that Kelli must have experience. I was blacking out quickly, and Snowy was gasping.  
Meanwhile, on the ground, Vash, Rene, Kanari, and Doughboy, carrying the Blue Mist, Lovely Violet, Liz's rapier, and the epee, plus Kero and Suppi roughly stuffed in Vash's pocket and zipped up so they wouldn't escape, and Cherry tightly in Kanari's hands, were thrown up several feet. Doughboy, the heaviest, came crashing down first, right on top of some daises. His fat rolled around him, and in an instant, he was up, the fat having supported his fall.  
Kanari's feathery wings sprouted and she snatched at Vash, while Rene helped. Both of them acted as a parachute and leveled themselves and Vash to the ground. While snatching at Vash, Kero and Suppi had come tumbling out of the pocket. I, zooming down at two hundred miles per hour, saw this.  
"Release!" I gasped, and choked as I snatched my wand from my chest (as I was falling, one hand still on Nakita. I hit my pocket and a whole bunch of cards came flying out. "Ack! Firey, Earthy!" Transforming the two beasts, Cerberus lunged at us falling four, while Anora, who had hidden beneath a stump while Genesis landed, lunged at the cards.  
I landed on something cold and hard, and the next moment, my eyes blacked out. The next thing I knew, I was lying in the middle of some flowers.  
According to Rene, it had gone like this: I had landed on Cerberus, Snowy on Colton, and the two beasts had gotten together to support Nakita in between, while Kelli urgently came down, skidding through some flowers. Cerberus and Colton landed, and us three rolled right off, while the two returned back to Kero and Suppi, and Anora handed the cards back to Kelli.  
"Yuki, here." Kelli said, handing the slightly wet cards to me as I woke. I dried them and stared around. The clouds were all gone, but more were moving in from the west. I looked. The ship was sailing in the skies, with a big mast and oars rowing with the wind.  
Everything seemed right, and complete. With that, I fell asleep again. Everything would be normal from now on. Our destiny had been completed.  
  
There will be no teaser, as I'm posting the next chapter with this one, and that chapter is the last chapter of Jewel Quest. May Black Magic begin! 


	32. Good-Bye For All

CCS does not belong to me.  
I don't know why I still bother with the disclamier when I already have one in the very beginning summary...  
Well, I have to admit, I'm a little disappointed in this chapter, it doesn't have exactly long paragraphs of emotion, but it does have you realize that things have to end sooner or later, n what we have learned from our journey.  
It's the shortest of all the chapters, only four pages, and Jewel Quest has ended at 207 pages. No, I won't give you a teaser of Black Magic in the bottom. I decided to lay off the intense reading and give you a break. Ta da!  
  
Goodbye For All  
I woke to the spray of mist on my face. There was a fire lit, and people were cooking. I groped blindly around me. Flowers. Wiping my face, I sat up.  
"About time." Doughboy grumbled.  
We were still in the meadow, and Nakita was lying next to Vash, still sleeping, but Snowy was all right. They were roasting something on the grill, and Clay the Elder had a bag of something big and white.  
"Last time, a very long time ago, a dwarf went to get a pack of these. He called them marshmallows." Clay the Elder said. "And now, he's returned, so we can eat them!"  
"Roasting marshmallows by the fireside." Vash said, pulling on his red jacket. I looked towards the west. The road seemed to go on.  
"How are Uri and Genesis connected?" I asked. "I mean, how do you get there?"  
"I suppose for right now, they have boats, but eventually, they will have to buy bridges." Clay the Elder said, laughing. "Such good life, like we were used to."  
"We ought to get going." Vash said. "Of course, we thank you dearly for all you've done for us."  
"So soon?" Clay the Elder said. "Well, perhaps it's not soon, and I know your friends miss their homes dearly, but this is your home, Vash. And please stay until the meat is ready."  
"Of course." Vash said. "We'll stay a little longer. But Clay, you do realize that we appreciate everything you've done for us, and even though I have you here, and Mr. Clay, that Kelli and I couldn't possibly be comfortable here."  
"Yes." Mr. Clay chuckled. "We keep forgetting that you are only kids, and you need a social life. We've been here, in the Underground, with the dwarfs too long they have become our people, but that isn't the way it should be with you guys. Go back to your kinds, but please visit." That was the longest time I've ever heard Mr. Clay speak.  
"We owe this victory to you guys as much as you say it is owed to us." Rene said, reaching for a marshmallow as Clay the Elder held them out. "Thank you ever so much." Mr. Clay and Clay the Elder smiled.  
"So has the time difference been changed?" I asked. "I mean, do the times in the Third Dimension and the Fifth ever end up the same?"  
"I don't suppose so." Clay the Elder said. "Don't worry, dears, it's not that long."  
"We've been here for around a week and a half." I said. "And it's only been half an hour in our world."  
"But our years are longer." Clay the Elder said.  
"Still, are you guys going to be, well, long gone by the time we come back to visit, say, the next time the gate opens?" Snowy asked. "You're only human."  
"The gate opens every week in the Third Dimension, which is half a year here." Mr. Clay said. "Do not worry. Even if we aren't here, our souls are, and so are our beliefs."  
"Have faith in yourself, as we have faith in you." Clay the Elder said.  
"I might not ever see you again." Kelli said, giving him a hug. "I'm sorry about that."  
"So am I." Clay the Elder said.  
"You've taught us so much, from when we were little, to now, and I can't possibly express how grateful I am." Kelli said. Clay the Elder smiled, then, briskly walked over to cut the meat, to hide his tears.  
"What about the workers? Aren't they our kind too?" Doughboy asked.  
"There's a lot more of your kind out there." Clay the Elder said. "Along with more not your kind. Lots of planets with your kind float on by, and more even with nymphs, oreads, dryads, and gorgons." He passed out the meat. "But they have adjusted to their own lifestyle, and even though they are like you in so many ways, they are different in even more. No, leave them as be."  
"All right." Vash said. We ate in silence (well, not really silence, since the chewing patter of Doughboy's mouth has always stayed in my mind). Nakita woke up and joined us. Kero, though disappointed that there was no desert, ate quite well.  
At last, we were ready to go.  
"It is time to say goodbye." Vash said. So we turned around.  
"Thank you for all that you have given us." Rene said One by one, we all said something to them. At last, we were in front of a hole.  
"This is the first place where we set foot on Uri." Nakita said softly.  
"And I made the mistake of choosing the wrong side." Kelli said, giggling. A breeze went through our hair and circled around us, heaving a sigh.  
"So much has passed." Rene said softly. We entered the tunnel, and suddenly, I felt a surge of power. We were moving again.  
"Bye!" I called.  
"Farewell!" Snowy yelled.  
"Goodbye!" Nakita called.  
"And thank you!" Rene yelled.  
"For everything!" Vash called.  
"We love you!" Kelli called.  
"Oh yeah!" Doughboy said. We all started to laugh, and were sucked through the tunnel.  
Once again, we were still in the Fourth Dimension.  
"This brings back so many memories." I said,  
"Yeah, as if we're going back in time!" Nakita said, as we flew after Anora, leading the way.  
"Yee ha!" Kero yelled. Suppi closed his eyes, hanging on to Kero's tail, while Kero hung on to my shoulder.  
"The door!" Doughboy yelled, and suddenly, we were blinded by light. We were falling, but with joy. Once on the ground, we found ourselves landed on our sleeping bags, which we had placed right underneath the door to the Fourth Dimension.  
"All right!" Doughboy said.  
"We're home." Kanari yelled.  
"It's all right." I said to Kelli and Vash. "I know you miss Uri."  
"We do, but at least we're here, and it's not really so bad." Kelli said, with a smile. "And we've got our friends, at least." She smiled at us. "Yes, friendship, what counts above all."  
***  
"So the whole adventure only took half an hour." Doughboy said. "And that, was that."  
It was at least a month after, and a ton of things had happened. Our report cards were in the mail, the school awards all handed out, the competitions all done and forgotten about and with. And now, school was out. Well, with one more day, that is.  
"I just love Fridays!" Kanari squealed. "And guess where I'm going this summer."  
"Norway!" Nakita said, giggling. Doughboy stuffed half a hamburger in his mouth, then spat it out. Dabbing his mouth with a napkin, he exclaimed,  
"You're going to Norway?"  
"Nakita too!" Kanari said gleefully.  
"WHAT?" Doughboy asked.  
"Kanari's going to be back with her parents and I'm going to visit my grandmother, Mrs. Gliverd." Nakita said. "We leave in twelve days."  
"Oh no." Snowy said.  
"I'm really going to miss you." Vash put in.  
"We all are." I said. "Come back soon."  
"We'll bring you all some souvenirs." Kanari said.  
The endless chatter about the summer continued.  
What I regret most is how our adventure ended. I'd like to think there was more joy in it. Sure, we had fun in Uri, and it was like a summer vacation already, but you'd think it'd be dangerous. You see, we ARE ordinary kids with extraordinary powers, and what can you expect from it all? We risked our lives to bring justice to a place, and to make everyone see what life is. [The scene in the lunch room is gradually fading, with a transverse scene to Yuki, Rene, and Snowy at Rene's house, pouring over magazines, to Doughboy and Vash bickering over something, and Vash insulting Doughboy about him being so obese while Doughboy yells at Vash for being stupid and "pickled brained" (which he isn't) to Nakita and Kanari on the airplane, giggling and finding their seats, with a posed Cherry in Nakita's arms, with the bells in her hair and a sun broach on Kanari's shirt, to Kero and Suppi laughing and playing with each other, and it ends with a sudden stillness, as the scene switches back a little in time to the airport, where Kanari and Nakita are leaving, a certain replay in Yuki's mind]  
"We're really going to miss you." Snowy called. "Email us!"  
"I don't think my grandmother has a computer, but Kanari and I live in the same town!" Nakita called, walking up the ramp. "Bye!"  
"Say bye to all the pets for us (with pets, she meant the magical animals, but with the simple word pets, no one was ever suspicious) and we'll be back." Kanari yelled. "We love you!"  
"For ever and ever." Nakita said as they disappeared.  
"Goodbye!"  
We watched the planed on the runway and rise towards the skies.  
"And the towering dome from above." Vash replied.  
"We certainly have gone through a lot, haven't we?" Rene asked.  
"A lot for sure." Snowy said.  
"And we've changed too." Rene said.  
"I believe for the better." I said. "After all, we were taught on this trip to Uri and on this journey for the quest of jewels, to  
Live Life With Joy,  
and to  
Die With Hope."  
  
[and with the last words, the screen dims and the story of the Jewel Quest is complete]  
The Premier of Black Magic will be posted either on Thursday, May 24th, or Friday, May 25th...keep watching and stay posted! 


End file.
